Fifty Shades Continued
by wishingmrgreywashere
Summary: Picks up right after Teddy is born, but pre-epilogue. No actual cheating, but what could be considered emotional cheating if you're really sensitive. Adult content warning, may not be suitable for those with a weak conscious. Lots of drama. EL James owns everything.
1. Chapter 1

_ Phone charger, check. Toiletry bag, check. Where is that gray pencil skirt, oh there it is. Okay, I think I have everything. _

I close the over packed suitcase and reach out to drag it to the floor but am stopped by a pair of strong hands.

"Mrs. Grey, you heard what the doctor said, no heavy lifting for three months."

I turn around to face my husband who looks down at me disapprovingly. A smile breaks across his face as I take my hands off the suitcase and lift them up to him in defeat. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest, kissing my hair as in inhales deeply.

"Do go." He whispers.

"Christian, we've been over this. I have to go. This is a very important summit for Grey Publishing that will expose our authors to international markets."

"Then let me come with you."

I glare at him, not willing to have this argument for the hundredth time.

"Christian, we have gone over this again and again. We can't both leave Teddy, he's too young. I'm only going to be gone for four days. You'll be fine I promise."

"But you're green light day is tomorrow." He pouts. "I've been deprived of your for six weeks Ana, you can't leave me hanging like this."

"It's only three more days, Christian."

"What am I going to do with the baby for four days. I don't know anything about babies. What if something happens? What if he gets sick. What if he chokes or falls out of the crib or smother's himself or…?"

"Christian!" I stop him. "You'll be fine. I've hired a full time nanny for the next four days in addition to Mrs. Jones', who has agreed to remain on call for the duration of my absence, and your mother and sister are going to be here. If you need more help than that you can call Kate."

Christian narrows his eyes, "What you don't trust me."

"No." I reply playfully and walk passed him to the dresser to pick up my blackberry. His arms wrap around me again and he presses himself to me. I can feel his erection against my behind.

"God, I need you Ana."

I twist out of his grip, look at him firmly and hold up two fingers. He pouts again.

"Blue balls again today."

I laugh as he reaches over to pick up my suitcase to carry down the stairs towards the front door. As we walk through the big house towards the kitchen I reach down and dial Hannah's number.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Grey." Hannah answers on the third ring.

"Good Morning, Hannah. Are you all set for Australia?"

"Yes, ma'am. I have your itinerary for the summit and our reservation confirmations in my carry on."

"Excellent Hannah, I'll see you at the airport in 45 minutes."

"Yes, Mrs. Grey. See you then."

"Bye, Hannah."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone and take the glass of orange juice Mrs. Jones hands to me. Grace walks towards me from the family room with a huge smile on her face, my 6 week old baby in her arms.

"Oh Ana, I'm not happy you're leaving, but I am very happy to spend the next four days with my beautiful grandson." She coos.

"Thank you for helping us out, mom." I respond with a smile. She reaches out and hugs me with one arm and then passes Teddy to me. My heart wrenches as I fight the maternal instincts that tell me what a horrible mother I am for leaving my new baby.

_No_ , I reason with myself. _I want to continue working and if I don't go on this trip it will be only a matter of months before Christian convinces me to quit altogether. _

I kiss the top of Teddy's head and gently squeeze him.

"I'll miss you baby boy." I whisper and hand him back to Grace.

"Mrs. Grey, I have the car ready whenever you are." Taylor says from the entrance to the kitchen.

"Thank you, Taylor. I'm ready." Christian hands him the suitcase and reaches out for me again. He kisses me deeply, intimately. A little too intimately for the room of crowded people, but I don't mind. I hate being away from him and I'm just as desperate for this kiss as he is.

"I love you," he whispers as he breaks the kiss at last.

"I love you, more." I reply.

"Please don't go." He begs softly into my hair.

I ignore him, reach my face up to his for one last quick kiss and push away from him, walking towards Taylor.

"Call me when you get there." Christian asks.

"I will." I promise, and I walk out the door with Taylor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Christian POV**

Day 1:

I'm in a meeting when my blackberry buzzes.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: My Arrival

Date: July 6th 2012 11:13 AM

To: Christian Grey

I have arrived at LAX safely. My flight for Sydney will depart in a little over an hour.

Xx

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Your Arrival and Departure

Date: July 6th 2012 11:15 AM

To: Anastasia Grey

I'm very happy to hear you have arrived Mrs. Grey, and I do hope your flight to Sydney is just as safe. I love you, and miss you already. Please come home.

Christian Grey, CEO and desperately lonely Husband, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I have packed as many things into these next four days as I possibly could so that I wouldn't have time to miss Anastasia. I know it is a fruitless effort on my part and now there will simply be an outrageous amount of stress piled on top of my longing for her. Get your shit together Grey, she's only going to be gone for 4 fucking days. You're the master of the universe for god sakes, act like it.

When I arrive at home after work, the baby is crying. I can hear my mother and Mia arguing in the living room over what to do and when I walk past them I see the nanny standing next to them uncomfortably as they ignore her completely. I should just let the woman go. There is no way between Mia and my mother the woman will ever even touch Teddy.

My mother bounces the baby up and down as he continues to wail. I set down the glass of wine Mrs. Jones has poured for me and walk over to my family, reaching out for my son. The line in my mother's brow deepens as she hands Teddy to me and I envelope him in my arms. I bring him into my chest, squeezing him gently as I bounce him up and down.

"Hush now." I breathe over him and his cries start to dissipate. He grows steadily more quiet while i bounce him until, eventually, he falls asleep. I continue to bob him up and down as I watch his shallow breaths go in and out. I still love the way he smells. I can't get over his beautiful face, so much like Ana's. He's perfect, so fragile in my arms.

My blackberry buzzes in my pocket and I look up to my mother, who is already holding her arms out for my son with a stupid grin on her face. I hand Teddy to her and reach into my pocket and pull out my blackberry.

"Ros?" I answer and walk back towards the kitchen for my wine. The phone conversation is long. There is a problem with the ship yard in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government has been experiencing problems with pirates. Fucking pirates. We've had several damaged vessels and even more shipments go missing over the past few months and I'm ready to dump the whole fucking thing.

When I finally get off the phone with Ros, Teddy has been put to bed and my mother and Mia are eating spaghetti on the couch in front of the TV watching some show where a bunch of whiny sounding girls complain about nothing.

I grab a plate and sit next to them, but quickly find that I have no interest in the show they are watching.

"How can you watch this shit?"I ask incredulously.

"Shh!"They hiss together in unison, waving their hands to silence me. I finish what's on my plate, take it to the sink and head off for Teddy's room.

I don't know how long I stand over him, watching him sleep but I don't care. I love him so much, I'm utterly obsessed with him. It's like when I first met Ana and couldn't get her out of my mind. Like when I watched her sleeping in the Heathman the first night she stayed with me. I want to reach down and scoop him into my arms, hold him against my chest, but I'm afraid I'll wake him. So I lean down over the bars of the crib, plant a soft kiss on his head and creep from the room as silently as possible.

The sounds from the living room have ceased and I look down at my watch. Holy shit, it's 2 in the morning. I've been watching Teddy sleep for hours. I trudge my way up the stairs and strip out of my clothes, not bothering to throw them in the hamper for Mrs. Jones.

The bed feels too big without Ana, I don't like it. I try to imagine her next to me, but those thoughts quickly turn into images of her under me. I groan as I feel my erection begin to build under the covers. Ana has been off limits since Teddy was born and six weeks is way too long to go without sex. The strain of my erection against my calvin kleins is uncomfortable now and I sigh as I climb out of bed, head to the bathroom and fix Ana's face in my mind as I stroke my cock until I come.


	3. Chapter 3

****Mature Content Ahead**

Day 2:

I'm jerked awake by my blackberry buzzing from the nightstand. My first thought is that I've overslept but then I notice it's still pitch black in my room. I reach over and angrily pull my phone towards me ready to rip the head off of whoever woke me, but my irritation quickly dissipates as I see an email from Ana.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: G'day from Sydney or should I say G'night

Date: July 7th 2012 11:30 PM AETD

To: Christian Grey

Greetings from down under! I have arrived at my hotel in Sydney and am looking forward to a good night's sleep. Wishing you were here in my bed, Mr. Grey.

Xx

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing.

I smile and hit reply.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Your Bed

Date: July 7th 2012 04:34 AM PST

To: Anastasia Grey

My thoughts of your bed are quite lascivious Mrs. Grey. Perhaps you shouldn't mention such things to me or I might be forced to fly out there. It is July 7th after all and once again, your body is mine for the taking.

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Inc.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Your thoughts

Date: July 7th 2012 11:41 PM AEDT

To: Christian Grey

Careful, or I just might let you.

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

I groan as once again I feel the hardening of my cock. I pick up the phone and dial her number.

"Mr. Grey." She purrs over the phone.

"Is Hannah with you?" I asked.

"No," she responds, "Just me all alone in my hotel room."

"Lie down on the bed." I command.

"Yes sir." I hear some movement and then her voice comes back to me. "What now?"

"Tell me what you're wearing."

"I'm wearing my black lace thong, and your gray Harvard t-shirt."

"What bra are you wearing?" I ask.

"I'm not." She responds in a whisper.

"Fuck Ana. Run your hands over your tits, make your nipples hard through my shirt."

"Mmmm," she moans in appreciation. I close my eyes and picture her, laying on top of my bed, the outlines of her nipples clearly visible through my Harvard t-shirt.

"Oh Ana, baby. I want to sink my teeth into that shirt, bite down on your nipples." She gasps and I frown.

"Are you touching your clit, Anastasia?"I demand.

"No."She responds quickly.

"Good, don't fucking touch yourself until I tell you to, understand?"

"Yes, sir." She breathes and my cock twitches at her words.

"Are your nipples hard baby?"

"Mmhmm." She mumbles and I can imagine her squirming over the bed, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

"Fuck baby, I want to be there. I want to be buried inside of you right now."

"I want you here too, Christian. Please, keep going."

"Reach up under my tshirt and slowly run your hands up your stomach to your tits." I command. Her breathing gets heavier and I know she is doing as I say.

"I want you to kneed your tits for me baby. Tell me how it feels."

"Oh Christian, my tits are so big and firm right now. It feels so good. My nipples are so hard."

"Pinch them baby, I want to hear you moan." As I'm rewarded with her answering moan I reach down and pull my boxer briefs off and grasp my now painfully hard cock at the base.

"Christian, please." She begs. "Please let me touch myself."

"Oh no, Ana. You're not getting off yet. Tell me what you want me to do to you."

"I want you to suck on my nipples while you dip your fingers inside of me. I want you to palm my clit while your fingers massage that magic spot inside of me. And then I want you to take your tongue and run it over my breast, down my stomach and into my dripping wet pussy."

"Oh god, Ana, I've missed how you taste. I want to grab you by the ass and bury my face in you. Fuck, Ana." I've started stroking my cock, slowly so I don't explode before we're finished.

"I'm so fucking hard right now, Ana. I could pummel into you for fucking hours I'm so fucking hard."

"Can I suck your cock for you, baby?"

My breath hitches and I have to stop stroking myself. She almost made me come with those fucking words.

"Mmm I can imagine how you'd feel in my mouth right now." She continues. "The head of your cock is so swollen and tight in my mouth, filling my throat perfectly as I take as much of you as I can. I love the way you feel in my mouth baby, hard and soft at the same time."

I buck my hips forwards as I imagine her head bobbing up and down on my cock.

"I want to fuck that mouth so badly baby."

"Christian, I need you inside of me right now." Her voice is so heady and filled with need and I groan.

"Reach down into your panties, Anastasia. Tell me how wet you are."

"Oh baby, I'm so fucking wet. My panties are soaked." My cock twinges again, painfully this time, as I imagine peeling her panties off of her and bringing them to my face, inhaling her most intoxicating scent.

"Jesus Christ, Ana, I can't fucking take it anymore. Rub your clit baby, make yourself come for me."

Her breathing turns into gasps as I imagine her massaging herself under her panties.

"That's it baby, feel it. Now dip your fingers inside of you and swirl them around the front of that delectable pussy of yours."

"Christian!"She gasps.

"Not yet baby, feel it. In and out, just like I do."

"Christian, I'm going to come."

"Pull your fucking fingers out and suck your juices off of them. Tell me how you fucking taste." There is a muted sound of her sucking on her fingers and then a moan of appreciation.

"I'm salty and sweet."She responds and I groan, no longer able to take it. I reach down, grasp my cock and begin to stroke it furiously.

"Rub your clit, Anastasia. Make yourself come."

"Aahh!" She screams over the phone as her hand makes contact. "Mmmm baby, I'm not going to last much longer. Are you stroking your cock for me?

"Like you wouldn't fucking believe, Ana. I'm close baby. I need you to come for me."

"Christian." She moans desperately.

"Fuck, Ana. Come Now!" I command and she screams into the phone.

"I'm coming, oh fuck, Christian, I'm coming!"

And that's all I need. Ropes of come fly out of my cock as I write in pleasure. It's everywhere and I'm a sticky fucking mess but I don't give a shit. I'm in fucking ecstasy as I listen to my beautiful wife come over the phone.

I can hear Ana's heavy panting as she comes down from her orgasm. She moans slightly and I smile as I imagine her exhausted face, the way she looks every time she comes down from an orgasm.

"I love you." She whispers.

"I love you, too baby. So much. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Get some, sleep. Call me when you wake up."

"Mmm." She responds.

"I love you baby, sweet dreams."

"Good-bye, Christian."

"Good-bye, my love."

The phone goes dead and I lie back for a few moments before I wrench myself up, strip the sheets from my bed and head for the shower.

When I get out of the shower, the alarm clock tells me its 5:15. I throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t shirt and head downstairs to meet Taylor, who is waiting for me in the entryway for our morning run.

"Good morning, Sir." He said, throwing me a water bottle.

"Good morning, Taylor." I respond. I grab my toe and pull, stretching out my hamstring while I roll my neck from side to side. As I do this, I notice a light coming from the kitchen behind me. Who would be up this early?

"Are you ready, Sir?" Taylor asks.

"Hold up, Jason." I say and walk towards the kitchen. Mrs. Jones is leaning against the counter, watching a bottle rotate around the microwave. She is humming and I notice Teddy tucked into her arm.

"Gail?" I ask, and she turns to me with a smile. "Good morning Mr. Grey. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"No, I was going on a run with Taylor when I saw your light. Does Theodore eat this early every morning?"

"Yes sir," she responds. "And several times throughout the night. Usually Mrs. Grey wakes up with him but I've taken over this week so that your mother and sister can get some sleep."

"Oh," I respond. I walk towards her and reach my arms out for my son. She hands him to me willingly as the microwave signals the bottle is ready.

"Good morning, Teddy." I say softly, cradling him in my arms. He looks up at me with Anastasia's eyes, his mouth opening in a small "o" d and then closing again.

"He's hungry." Mrs. Jones says softly and she reaches for him.

"I think I'd like to feed my son." I say, shifting the baby so that I can hold him with one arm and take the bottle with the other. Mrs. Jones' face lights up with delight as she hands me the bottle.

"You'll want to hold him up a bit, not so flat." She tells me. "Make sure you've got his head. Yes, that's exactly right."

I bring the bottle up for Teddy and he takes it willingly. He watches me while he eats and I stare back into his perfect blue eyes. This child has me completely captivated. He is Anastasia. He is me. The best of both of us, combined together to create this perfect little boy.

"Sir?" A voice behind me interrupts, I shift and see Taylor staring at me confused.

"I'll just be a moment Taylor." I say and turn my gaze back to my son. Before he has finished with the bottle, I both hear and feel a discomforting sound and when the smell hits me I cringe.

"I'll take him Mr. Grey." Mrs. Jones says and I gladly hand him to her to change.

"Okay, let's go." I say, turning back to Taylor and as I exit the kitchen, my mother appears. She kisses me on the cheek, tells me she loves me and hurries off after Mrs. Jones.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. Not only have I made progress in my new infrastructure project with South Sudan, I have learned to change a wet diaper and give Teddy a bath. Now I'm sitting on the couch with my mother and Mia again, Teddy asleep in my arms while Mrs. Jones cleans the dinner dishes.

With one hand, I reach for my blackberry and slowly type an email to Ana.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: SOS

Date: July 7th 2012 07:30 PM

To: Anastasia Grey

Please come home so I can send my mother and sister away, this is the second night in a row I've been subjected to Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I miss you and love you.

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: RE: SOS

Date: July 8th 2012 02:30 PM AEDT

To: Christian Grey

I'm sending in the troops, no one should be subjected to such torture. :)

I miss you, this summit wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I can't stop worrying about Teddy.

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

I open the camera on my phone, take a picture of the sleeping baby in my arms and text it to Ana. She responds a minute later.

**You're going to make me cry. We make beautiful children Mr. Grey**

I smile and put the phone away, thinking I might join Teddy in a nap. Instead, I decide to get up and put him down for the night. Then I disappear into my office so I can research Taiwanese preventative measures against piracy and their government compensation policies for damaged and stolen property. I need to call my lawyer in the morning and have them review our contract. This shit is costing me a lot of money. I wish this deal had been someone else's doing so could fucking fire them, but I was the one who had begun negotiations with Taiwan so there is no one to direct my anger at.

It's nearly midnight when I hear my phone buzz. I look down and see a text from Ana. It's a picture and when I open it, my mouth pops open. She's standing, naked in front of the mirror. Her hand partially over her sex, just enough so that I can see she's touching herself, but not enough so that I can't see her. I stare longingly at the photo when my phone buzzes again. Another picture. This time, she's bending over in front of the mirror, taking the picture over her shoulder so I have an amazing view of her ass. My cock twitches and I want to text her back and tell her to stop. I need to fuck her, it's been to long. The phone buzzes again but this time it isn't a text, she's calling me.

"Ana." I answer smoothly.

"Did you get my texts?" She asks.

"Yes, I did. I enjoyed them very much. When did you become so brazen Mrs. Grey?"

"Since I haven't gotten to fuck my husband in almost two months, Mr. Grey."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Grey. That will be rectified as soon as possible. I may have to fuck you in the car on the way home from the airport."

"I'm sure Taylor would appreciate that."

"I don't give a fuck what Taylor does and does not appreciate. The only thing I care about is how soon I can bury myself in you."

"How was your day?" She asks, changing the subject.

"Fine. Productive. You?"

"Long." She sighs. "I've got the second part of the summit tomorrow and then I'm on a plane home first thing monday morning."

"I can't wait."

"I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

"I'm going to bed. It's been a long day and I have an early morning."

"Laters baby." I say, unable to keep the smile off my face. She laughs.

"Laters."

I hang up the phone and go back into my text messages. I push away from the desk and hurry up to my bedroom, where I can enjoy my wife in private.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 4:

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Only a day away

Date: July 9th 2012, 07:16 AEDT

To: Christian Grey

I'm on my way to the airport. I'll see you tomorrow morning. I can't wait to get you alone Mr. Grey.

xx

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

How many times have I read this email since I got it yesterday afternoon? I look at the alarm clock. 2:30am. I've looked at the clock every 5 minutes, willing it to move faster. I know I'm not going to find sleep tonight. My lawyers have officially filed suit to retain the property and profit we've lost in Taiwan. Fortunately, they had the foresight when drafting the original contract to ensure a protection of assets clause. And Ana is coming home today. In 7 hours, she'll be in my arms. I sigh and place my hands behind my head as I run through all of the plans I have for her when she gets home. I've decided to keep the nanny on for one additional night. Tonight, I will take Ana out to dinner with my family and then I'll whisk her off to Escala and my playroom.

I feel myself begin to harden as I think of all the things I'm going to do to her tonight. Patience Grey, all in good time.

I spend the next few hours drifting in and out of sleep. Eventually, I haul myself out of bed at 5:30 and drag myself to the basement gym. After a hard workout, I'm covered in sweat and in desperate need of a shower.

Gail is in the kitchen when I get downstairs.

"Good morning, Mr. Grey." What can I make you for breakfast this morning?"

"An omelette, please." I say distractedly as I looked down at the screen of my blackberry. I scroll through my emails from this morning. There are two from Andrea, six from Ros, one each from Barney, Welch and Taylor, and an odd number from department heads throughout GEH. I don't have any emails from Ana. I thought she would email me when she landed. Her flight from LAX doesn't leave for another 15 minutes so I decided to call her.

"Hi, you've reached Anastasia Grey. I'm unable to answer my phone right now so please leave me a message."

Why is her phone off? Has she boarded the plane already? I frown and leave a quick message telling her to call me. Gail sets an omelette in front of me and asks if I want some coffee.

"Yes." I say shortly. And she furrows her brow with concern before filling a mug with coffee and setting it in front of me.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Grey?" She asks. "Have you heard from Mrs. Grey this morning."

"No." I snap and slam the cup of coffee in one scalding hot gulp.

"Good morning." Mia chirps as she enters the kitchen in her fluffy pink bathrobe. "How did you sleep last night Christian?"

I frown down at my phone and brush her question off with my hand as I read through Ros's email. I hear her snort as she pours herself a cup of coffee.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" She asks.

"I haven't heard from Ana and her phone is off." I say as I respond to Taylor's email.

"Well she's been flying all night, maybe she forgot."

"Forgot what? How to type?" I spit, looking up to glare at her.

"Forgot to call you. She probably is asleep. The time difference from Sydney is a lot, she's probably exhausted."

She better not be, not for what I have planned for her. I might have to refine my plans in the playroom for her decision not to contact me when she landed. A smile creeps across my face as imagine the pale skin of her ass burning and pink.

"What?" Mia asks, confused by my sudden mood change.

"Nothing." I say, regaining my dark tone. "I need more coffee Gail."

She pours me another cup as I quickly type an email to Anastasia.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Your transgression

Date: July 9th 2012 6:54 AM PST

To: Anastasia Grey

I'm displeased you haven't contacted me yet this morning. I expected you to call or email me when you landed.

Christian Grey, Twitchy Palmed CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc

"Ugh, what a miserable night." My mother groans as she enters the kitchen. "Teddy was an absolute nightmare. I don't know if he slept more than two hours throughout the whole night!"

"Sorry, mom." I say as I finish the rest of my coffee and return to my emails.

"Sorry, mom? That's all you're going to say to me. Geesh, I'm glad Ana is coming home today. You're grumpy when she's away.

I ignore her as I type an email to Andrea asking her to send me my schedule for the weekend.

"Excuse me, Christian, I'm talking to you." she snaps.

"Don't bother mom. He's in a bad mood." Mia says picking up her plate and walking into the living room. She turns on the news as she begins to eat her food.

"Are you going to work today?" my mom asks me.

"For an hour or so." I respond. "Ana's flight gets in at 9:15 and I'm going to pick her up."

"What do you have planned for tonight?"

"I thought I'd take the family out to dinner." I say, not looking up for my phone. It buzzes in my hand and I don't hear what my mother says to me as I walk away from the kitchen to answer it.

"Ros." I say sharply.

"Christian, you really need to re-think taking the afternoon off. We're hitting a snag in the Sudan deal and I don't think I can handle it without you."

"South Sudan." I say, annoyed.

"What?" Ros asks, confused.

"The deal is with South Sudan, Ros. They won their independence in 2011 and it's kind of a touchy subject. Perhaps you should try to approach the meeting with the right country and you'd have better luck."

"South Sudan, East Sudan, I don't care Christian. I need you in the office today!"

I'm distracted from the phone call by Mia shouting in the living room.

"Oh my god!" she gasps, her hand flying up over her mouth. I turn to see what's wrong with her and it takes me a moment but when I see it, my body seizes with terror. There is a breaking news bulletin flashing across the television screen.

Breaking News: Australian flight missing

"I'll call you back Ros." I snap, hanging up the phone and nearly running into the living room. The newscaster is speaking but I've missed the beginning of the news report.

"What was the flight number?!" I yell, rounding on Mia who cowers under my fire filled glare.

"Uh… I think they said… umm Q107, I think." I turn back on the screen and the flight number flashes in the text box at the bottom of the screen. Mia is right, Q107.

I pull out my phone and scroll through my emails until I get to the email Ana forwarded to me last week with her flight itinerary.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Fwd: Qantas flight confirmation

Date: July 2nd 2012 11:36 AM

To: Christian Grey

Qantas Itinerary Information

July 6th 2012:

SEA - LAX Departure: 09:00 AM PST Arrival: 11:13 PST SEAT A101 and A102 Flight Number UA 603

LAX- SYD Departure: 12:30 PM PST Arrival: (July 7th) 09:30 PM AEDT SEAT A101 and A102 Flight Number: Q 3312

July 9th 2012:

SYD- LAX Departure 09:00 AM AEDT Arrival: (July 9th) 05:46 AM PST SEAT A101 and A102 Flight Number: Q 107

LAX -SEA Departure: 07:00 AM PST Arrival: 09:15 AM PST SEAT: A101 and A102 Flight Number: UA 889


	5. Chapter 5

Day 5:

"What do you fucking mean you have no signal from the black box?" I scream into the phone.

"Mr. Grey, you're a pilot. Surely I don't have to explain to you that we have to be within a 15 mile radius of the box to receive a signal and calculating the distance of the search and rescue craft off the water and the distance from the ocean surface to the ocean floor, we could be talking about a margin of error of as little as 6 miles. The search efforts cover an area of over 12,000 miles. Surely, you can appreciate the difficulty of the situation.

"What I would appreciate is fewer excuses and more results."

"Everything that can be done, is being done, Mr. Grey. I assure you."

"Your assurances mean nothing until you find my wife." I snap and hang up the phone.

I'm sitting in my office at home. I haven't been able to leave the house since the news of the missing flight broke. Several key employees from GEH have temporarily set up office in my house, unable to get their work done without me being in the office. Andrea has set herself up on my breakfast bar and she's mostly been fielding phone calls, cancelling meetings and keeping Ros out of my office. I haven't gotten any business done at all, how could I? I can't think of anything except Anastasia.

There is a knock on the door but I ignore it. Andrea enters anyway a few seconds later. She's holding a phone against her chest, covering the microphone while she speaks to me.

"Mr. Grey, I have CNN on the line. They're asking for a statement." I glare at her.

"Why the fuck are they asking for a statement from me?"

"The passenger list for the flight has leaked, sir. They know your wife was on board."

Fuck. As if I didn't have my hands full already, now I'm going to have to be fielding media calls.

"Andrea, what did I tell you this morning. Unless that's search and rescue on the phone telling you my wife has been found, I don't want to be interrupted. Is that search and rescue on the phone?"

"No, sir."

"Then get out of my fucking office!" I scream. She calmly lifts the phone back up to her ear.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Grey has no comment to make at this time." She says gently as she slowly exits the room. My outbursts don't even phase her anymore. I've been screaming at her all morning. I've been screaming at everyone all morning. The only thing I've allowed myself to feel is anger. I can't handle the fear. Its too much. It consumes me. It ruins me. Anger is safe. I know anger. I am used to anger. Anger is good.

I push away from my desk and head out to check the news headlines on the TV again. The first thing I see when I open the door to my office is Andrea leading Ros away from my door again. I head into the living room and there are dozens of people scattered around, laptops open, but I don't look at them. I don't acknowledge any of them. I only look to the TV, which unfortunately is a mistake.

Breaking News: Qantas Flight Manifesto Revealed

Mia is still on the couch, in the same place she was yesterday. I bark at her to turn the volume up when Anastasia's name flashes across the screen.

"We have now learned that among the list of passengers of Qantas flight 107 was Anastasia Grey, who you may know as the wife of Seattle billionaire Christian Grey, the CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings. The couple was married last summer and welcomed a new baby boy, Theodore Raymond Grey less than 7 weeks ago.

I have to turn away from the TV as a wedding picture flashes on the screen. I can't see her like that now. Not at her most beautiful. Not looking so happy. Not on the day she officially became mine. A painful shiver reverberates through me and I cringe. The pain is returning. I grip the counter of the breakfast bar and brace myself. Focus on the anger, Grey. Only anger.

"Would you like something to eat, Mr. Grey." Mrs. Jones asks as she enters the kitchen.

"No." I snap, without even looking up at her.

I reach into my pocket and dial Anastasia's number again, hoping against hope, that she'll answer.

"Hi, you've reached Anastasia Grey. I'm unable to answer my phone right now so please leave me a message."

"Please, Ana.." I moan desperately into the phone and hang up. Her voice has cut me like a red hot blade fresh out of the flames of the forge. No, shut it down Grey. You don't have time for this shit. You need to focus now. Focus on the anger.

As I stand over the counter trying to regain my control, I hear the baby crying. The sound sets my teeth on edge. My mother rushes into the kitchen, holding him in her arms and she holds him out for me.

"Christian, I"m sorry, I have patients. I have to go to the hospital, you're going to have to take Teddy."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I snap venomously, "I can't take the fucking baby right now."

"Christian Trevelyan-Grey!" My mother gasps, pulling the baby back into her chest. "How dare you! Don't you ever talk about your son like that again. Just because you're dealing with a tragic situation, doesn't mean you get to stop being a father."

I push past her, scowling. "I don't have time for this shit right now."

"Christian, you get back here and take your son. You can't just abandon him."

"Call a fucking nanny." I yell and stomp towards my office. Teddy's cries get louder as I walk away.

"Somebody shut him up, I have fucking work to do!" I slam my office door behind me and slump angrily into my desk. This chair used to be a seat of fucking power, but I don't feel it now. I'm helpless. I need control. I have to have control and everything is out of my hands right now. I run my hands through my hair as I feel I'm being driven mad by fear and pain. What the fuck am I going to do?

Andrea appears at the door again, not bothering to knock this time.

"Mr. Grey."

"Andrea, I'm not going to fucking tell you again."

"I'm sorry sir, It's Governor Warren, returning your call." My face hardens and I wave her over, reaching my arm out for the phone.

"Governor." I said coldly.

"Mr. Grey. What can I do for you today?" He asks.

"I want to know why you haven't offered assistance to increase the search efforts for Qantas flight 107."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Grey. The responsibility for flight recovery lands on the airline and search and rescue efforts are put in place by the country of the plane's origin."

"That's not good enough." I snap. "I want the national guard involved."

"Again, I'm sorry, Mr. Grey. But I cannot allocate state resources simply to find your wife."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Governor. If that's the way you feel, perhaps I will be unable to allocate _my_ resources to your campaign fund. In fact, I might even have to reallocate my resources to your opponent in hopes of electing a Governor who puts the health and safety of his constituency above all else. I might even be a little extra generous if that were the case."

"Mr. Grey." he responds nervously. "Of course, the well being of the people of the great State of Washington is my highest priority. I suppose it wouldn't be wasteful to send out the national guard. Tell you what, I'll even make contact with the Governor of California. Perhaps he can have his coast guard get involved, in addition to the national guard of course."

"Excellent, Governor. I appreciate your support."

"And I shall appreciate your support, come November, Grey."

"Absolutely." I promise and hang up the phone.

That's going to do it, I tell myself. That's what was needed to bring her home. Fuck, why didn't I insist she fly on my private plane? Why didn't I go with her. Better yet, why didn't I keep her here? Tie her to the bed if necessary! My gut clenches at the last thought, but its non-sexual. Its pain. That's all there is now, pain and anger and fear.

I reach out for my blackberry again. I'm going to find someone who can bring her home if I have to get the President of the United States himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay kiddos, I've gotten a lot done today so I've decided to treat you to another chapter tonight instead of waiting until the morning. Don't worry, I'll have more for you tomorrow :) Laters!**

Day 6:

_Mommy is in her bedroom. I want to see Mommy but the door is closed. I do not open Mommy's door when it is closed. When I do, the bad man gives me the burn. I am hungry. I want to tell Mommy that I am hungry so she will make me something to eat. But I cannot get to Mommy. I go to the kitchen and pull a chair against the counter so I can reach the cupboards to find something to eat. The cupboard is empty. There is no food in the fridge._

_I hear the front door open and the stomp of boots. Oh no, he's back. The bad man is back._

_"Where are you, you little shit!" I hear him yell and I run to the kitchen table and crawl under it to hide from him. His boots stomp around the kitchen. He is trying to find me._

_"There you are." He spits at me. I can smell his nasty breath. I cringe away from him but his long arms reach out and pull me from under the table. He drags me, hurting me, from the kitchen to my bedroom and throws me down on the ground. I yell because it hurts and he hits me on my face._

_"Look here, you little shit. I'm going to fuck your bitch mother and you're going to stay in here, do you understand?"_

_I stare back at him, unable to say words._

_"Answer me!" he yells and he hits me again. I nod my head, I will not leave my room._

_"You better." He warns. "If I see your fucking face again tonight, you'll get the burn." He pushes me back down and storms out of the room, slamming my bedroom door. I run and hide in my closet. My tummy growls and the sound scares me. I do not want the bad man to hear the sound. Mommy screams again and again and I cover my ears. He is hurting Mommy._

_It scares me when I can't hear the screams any more. He is done hurting Mommy, he is going to hurt me. I crouch down low in the closet hoping my tummy growling doesn't help him find me. I can hear his boots they stomp towards me. The sound scares me but it doesn't stop at my door. He walks through the house and I hear the front door open and close again._

_When I'm sure the bad man is gone, I crawl out of the closet to find Mommy. I need Mommy to make me something to eat. I leave my room and look at Mommy's room. The door is closed. The door is always closed. I don't open the door when it is closed._

"Jesus, Christian!" I hear as I'm violently shaken awake. My head shoots up off my desk and I look around the room disoriented. Where am I? My study, I'm in my study. My shirt is soaked in sweat and my body is shaking. I turn wildly to see who has woken me and I see Mia staring at me with a horrified look in her eyes.

"Christian, what's wrong. I could hear you screaming from upstairs. You woke the baby."

I've fallen asleep, how could I have fallen asleep? I looked desperately down at my watch to see the time. My arm is sore and I wince as I move. It's 6 am, Shit! I've been asleep for three hours. What has happened in the last three hours. I turn on Mia.

"Ana?" I ask desperately, my voice is so hoarse and weak. It's painful to speak, my throat is extremely hot and dry. .

"They haven't found anything yet." She answers solemnly.

48 hours. Ana has been missing for 48 hours. Best case scenario she is on the plane's emergency raft adrift in the south pacific. How long can a human go without water? My head is fuzzy and I'm having a hard time keeping my thoughts straight. 72 hours. I know that. I know a person can go 72 hours without water. I have 24 hours to find my wife before she… no I won't think that. I'm going to find her.

"Christian, you look terrible." Mia says, her voice is full of concern. "You haven't changed your clothes in days. You need a shower and some food. When was the last time you ate?"

When was the last time I ate? I can't remember. I don't feel hungry. I feel nothing but fear. I have 24 hours to find Anastasia before… no, no. I'm going to find her. God my head is killing me, I need an advil.

"You need to get up and take care of yourself." She grasps me by the arm and heaves me to my feet. I'm too weak to resist her and as I stumble to my feet, everything darkens and I lose my sense of direction and equilibrium.

'Shit, Christian!" Mia yells as she tries to catch me, but I'm to heavy for her. I hit the ground, hard, and the pain in my head explodes as my head cracks against the floor.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she screams as I roll over and moan, unable to get up by myself. I hear her fumble around and then her panicked voice.

"Mom! I need you to get over here as quick as you can. Christian just fell and hit his head. He can't move and he can barely talk! Ok… yes, I'll call an ambulance."

"M'not leaving" I mumble, trying, and failing to get off the ground.

"Hurry, Mom. Please!" Mia says again, her voice choking off as she begins to cry. I hear the phone fall on the desk and then Mia is next to me. I feel her touch my arm and then everything goes black.

When I wake up, I'm in my bed. The sunlight coming in from the floor to ceiling windows of the room makes my head pound. I raise my arm to shield my eyes but it is hindered by something. I look down confused and see an IV in my arm. Where the fuck did this come from, what time is it? My eyes dart around the room until they fall on my mother at the foot of my bed.

"Mom?" I ask.

"Christian, you're very dehydrated and are suffering from extreme exhaustion. You need to rest." She says.

I don't have time to rest. I need to get on the phone, get on the computer. How much time have I lost?

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Its almost noon."

Shit! I try to launch myself out of bed, but my mother's arms shoot out and hold me down.  
>"Christian, so help me, I'll sedate you!"<p>

"Mom, please. I have very little time. Please, I have to get to work. I have to find her. Please, she's running out of time."

Her eyes are filled with pain as she looks down at me. "I know how worried you are, Christian."

"No mom. No, you don't. I can't sit here and not do anything. This is killing me."

"Okay." She acquiesces. "You can sit on the couch. You need to rest."

Its better than nothing. I can make phone calls from the couch and watch the news. She helps me downstairs and I settle in. Mia brings me a glass of orange juice, a bowl of chicken broth and my blackberry. I turn on the TV and catch up with the latest in the search. Nothing. They've found nothing. No floating survivors, no wreckage. I don't understand, how does a plane just disappear?

An hour later, I've talked to three different press secretaries, the search and recovery lead of Qantas airlines and four different private investigators. I have no answers. No one knows what caused the crash or even when the plane lost contact with the control tower. I drum my fingers on the arm of the couch as I watch the steady drip of my IV until my mother appears next to me with Teddy in her arms.

"Why don't you take a turn with the baby?" she says.

I glare at her. "I don't have time for the baby right now. Give him to Gail."

"No Christian. This is your son. You may be missing your wife, but he is missing his mother. You need to hold your child." She reaches down and forces Teddy into my arms and I wince as she bumps into my IV.

"I don't want to hear another word about it." she says, and storms out of the room.

I look after her, dumbfounded and then look down to my son. He stares up at my wide eyed for a moment and then his face crinkles and a horrible wail escapes his mouth. Shit, what do I do? What would Ana do? I wrap him in my arms, squeeze him gently, like she showed me and bounce him up and down. His cries falter as I start to bounce him but return, louder than before.

"Shhhh." I say, and then remember that when he cries Ana sings to him. I don't know any fucking lullabies, what the hell am I going to sing to a baby? I think through as many songs as I can while my son screams at me. Suddenly, my mind conjures up an image, an old image of Ana twirling around my living room at Escala. We're dancing to Witchcraft. I begin to sing softly.

"Those fingers in my hair. That slight come hither stare. That strips my conscience bare, its witchcraft."

Teddy's cries soften as I sing and by the time I've finished the song, he is asleep. I hear a sniff behind be and turn to see my mother standing in the doorway. She's crying and when she sees I have noticed her, she walks over to me, kisses my hair, tells me she'll be right back, and leaves the room.

I look down at Teddy. His slow steady breathing is so calming, like a soothing balm that eases my pain and stress. I feel his warmth wash through me and the tension in my muscles thaws. I didn't realize how much I needed him until this moment. He is my connection to Ana.

My mom returns with Mia with a bottle. She reaches out for Teddy and I look at her like she's crazy. There's no way I will relinquish my son. Not now that I know what he does for me. She hands me the bottle and I gently brush it against Teddy's lips. He takes it and begins to eat.

While I feed the baby, I listen to my mom and Mia's conversation.

"Are you sure that's okay for a baby so young?" Mia wonders.

"I don't know what other choice we have. Obviously breast milk is preferable but some babies start on formula from birth."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, shifting Teddy so he's sitting up more.

"Ana didn't pump enough breast milk for… for her extended absence. That's the last of it. I'm going to have to give him formula." My mom answers.

My brow crinkles as I look back down at my son. "Don't worry, baby." I say. "I'm going to bring mommy back to both of us. She'll be back soon."

My reassurances are disrupted by a the sound of my blackberry ringing. I look down at the number and motion for my sister to take the baby.

"Grey." I bark into the phone.

"Sir, this is Commander Murdach with Australia Search and Rescue. I'm calling to inform you that we are officially ending the search for Qantas flight Q107."

"What do you fucking mean you're ending the search!" I roar and I see the looks of shock and panic on my mother and Mia's faces.

"I'm sorry sir. It's been over 48 hours with no success."

"48 hours is still in the window for possible survivors!"

"Mr. Grey, we simply don't have the resources to continue the search. I wanted to let you know before we released a statement to the media so you would have time to prepare a statement. So that you would have time to prepare yourself. We are not going to find your wife"

"No! What resources do you need?" I demand, my voice as cold as ice.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"What resources do you need? Planes? Ships? Money? I'll pay for it all. I'll get you whatever you need."

"Sir, we're talking millions of dollars a day to continue this search."

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?"

"No Sir. I suppose, if you're willing…"

"I'll have my people call you. Do not stop the search. It doesn't end until I say it ends."

I hang up the phone and make the proper calls to fund the search and rescue team. The next few hours are spent concentrating hard on the beautiful face of my son while I ignore the constant ringing of my blackberry. My accountants, lawyers and financial advisors have been calling non-stop, trying to advise me against my plan to fund the search but I don't care. I don't care if I lose my house, my company, every cent I have to my name. I will bankrupt myself, gladly, if it means I find Anastasia. Eventaully, the calls stop.

My concentration is finally broken by the sound of a breaking news bulletin, and when I look up my heart stops as I read the headline flashing across the screen.

**Qantas flight Q107 wreckage found**

"Turn that up!" I yell. Mia furiously pounds on the volume button. My yell has woken Teddy and my mother takes him from me and rocks him as we all listen to the news report.

"CNN can now confirm the wreckage of Qantas flight Q107 has been found along with dozens of survivors. There were several casualties reported but we don't have accurate numbers to report at this time. Search and Rescue has yet to release the names of the survivors but we will have those names for you as soon as they become available."

My blackberry rings.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 7:

My plane is full. My parents, Mia, Elliot and Kate, Ethan, Mrs. Jones, Taylor, the entire security team, Teddy and I are on our way to Los Angeles where the cargo ship carrying the survivors of flight Q107 will dock. Its one thirty in the morning and, barring any delays, we should land right about the same time the ship pulls in.

I'm nervous. Extremely fucking nervous. I don't like feeling this way. I know she's on the ship. I know that. She has to be. All of this couldn't have been for nothing. I haven't been working non-stop, spending millions of dollars, living through this hell for her to not be on that ship. The news reported a lot of casualties. There were new numbers, higher numbers, coming out with each new report. They have no names. No one has names. Even Commander Murdach couldn't tell me if my wife had been rescued. There are only numbers. 68 people are on the ship coming home. Flight Q107 had 290 passengers and 68 survived.

I swallow hard, and drum my hand against the armrest of my seat. The sound of my wedding ring against the plastic is loud and sharp. I can't think about odds right now. I know what the odds are and the more I think about them the harder it is for me to not crumple with pain.

"Christian, what can I get for you?" My mom asks, leaning over the aisle.

"Teddy." I say hoarsely. "Bring me my son." She gets up and moves to the back of the plane where Gail is sitting, with Teddy. Seconds later she returns and gently lays my baby in my arms. The relief I feel is immediate and I know this is the Ana part of him. Just the way Ana is able to keep my nightmares away, Teddy is able to take away my fear, my worry, my doubt. I stroke the soft, thin hair on the top of his head, lean over and kiss him on the forehead.

I love you Theodore and I love your mother. She's going to be okay. I'm going to bring her back to you, back to us.

As I enjoy the weight and comforting warmth from holding my son, I imagine how it will be when I see Ana again. I can't even imagine the relief. To have the fear and the pain and the worry just disappear. If Teddy's warmth is like a soothing balm for my pain, holding Ana in my arms again will be like anesthesia. It will be a cure. I don't know how I'll ever let her go again. I want to make love with her, not for the reasons I normally do but because I will only be close enough to her if I'm inside her. Stirrings that I haven't felt in days begin to re-emerge as I feel my body ache for her.

There is a small sound in my arms as Teddy sneezes in his sleep, his face crumples together and then relaxes as he drifts back into oblivion. I'm going to get Anastasia pregnant again as soon as possible. Teddy has been such a relief to me, such a necessary good. I want as many children as Anastasia is willing to give me. Two, three… twelve. I want them all.

"I'm sorry." a strained voice across from me sounds. I hear a succession of broken, hitched breathing followed by an anguished wail and look up from my son to see that Kate is crying again.

"Hush, baby. Its going to be okay. They've found her, I'm sure of it." Elliot reassures her.

"He's right, Katie." Mia joins in. "Its going to be okay. If I know Ana, she's fine. Probably really pissed that's she's missed two extra days of work, but she's gonna be fine."

Kate chokes as she laughs through her tears. "You're right, I-I-I know your r-r-right." She stutters.

"Katherine Kavanagh-Grey." I admonish her. "You know better than anyone else here that Anastasia is the most stubborn, difficult woman alive. Do you really believe she would let something as trivial as a plane crash get in her way?"

"Oh Christian! Oh god, I know this is a billion times worse for you. If you can keep it together, I can. You're right. She's going to be fine, she has to be fine." She wipes her tears with the back of her hand and I turn my gaze back to Teddy. She thinks I'm keeping it together, but in real life I'm being ripped apart by fear. I needed her to stop crying. I can't handle my own pain, let alone everyone around me.

"Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We are making our final descent into Los Angeles. We should be on the ground in twenty minutes."

My heart quickens and I take a deep breath to ease my nerves. Carrick reaches over and squeezes my shoulder as we feel the plane lose altitude.

"Mr. Grey, would you like me to take the baby?" Gail asks.

"Not yet." I say, I'll keep him until we land.

"Yes, sir."

There are two black SUV's waiting on the tarmac for us when we arrive. I take the front seat of the one closest to me and dial the number for search and rescue while I impatiently wait for Kate, Elliot, Ethan, Mia and Taylor to get into the car.

"Search and Rescue." a quick, tired voice answers. "Please hold."

"No." I say loudly and quickly. "I will not hold. Get me Murdach."

"I'm sorry, sir, we're fielding a lot of calls at the moment, I'm going to have to place you on hold."

"This is Christian Grey and if you put me on fucking hold, I'll have your job."

"Oh- Oh I'm sorry Mr. Grey, I didn't realized. I'll transfer you right away." There is a quick interlude of hold music and Murdach answers.

"Hello, Mr. Grey are you in Los Angeles?"

"Yes, I just landed. Do you have names for me?" I ask.

"No sir. The ship is docking as we speak. We wont have any information until the survivors make their way to the recovery center where we will take their information."

"They've been on a ship for nine hours, why the fuck haven't they had their information taken yet?"

"Sir, all of the passengers were extremely dehydrated and in need of medical attention and rest. Our first priority was to attend to those needs."

"I'll be there in 25 minutes." I snap. "I don't want any trouble when I arrive."

"I'll see to it Mr. Grey."

"See that you do." I hang up the phone and look over at the speedometer.

"Can't you drive any faster?" I ask irritated.

"Sir I'm doing the speed limit." The driver responds. My blood boils and I wish I would have asked the rental company to simply drop off the cars. If Taylor was driving, we'd be half way there by now.

"I didn't ask if you were doing the speed limit, I asked you to drive faster."

"Sir, I'm restricted by company guidelines. I cannot drive faster than the legal posted speed.

I reach around for my wallet and pull out the $800 I have on me and hand them to him.

"I need you to get us there, now." I say. He reaches out and takes the money and puts his foot down. We fly down the highway towards the marina.

When we arrive, I jump out of the car and practically run to the recovery center. There is a man at the door preventing people from entering off the street and as I shove my way through the crowd of gawkers, he steps in front of me.

"Approved personnel only." he said sharply to me.

"My name is Christian Grey, I believe that I am approved personnel." His face shifts and he steps aside, muttering an apology.

"I'm sorry Mr. Grey, right this way."

I don't bother responding to his apology, I simply continue to push my way forward. When I emerge in the large, crowded room, my stomach churns. There are dozens of people in hospital beds, many suffering from severe injuries including severe burns and dismemberment. Oh shit, I hadn't considered this possibility. The only thing that had mattered to me up until this point was that Ana was alive. What if she was seriously injured? Maybe this nightmare wasn't over. Oh god, something could be seriously wrong.

"Can I help you, sir?" A woman in an navy blue jumpsuit asks.

"Anastasia Grey?" I ask desperately. She looks down at her clipboard and frowns. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't have an Anastasia Grey. But we've only been able to speak with about 20 or so people. Feel free to look around, it would be very helpful if you were able to identify your loved one.

I storm past her and look frantically from one injured face to another. There are rows and rows of beds, and on several occasions I have to wait for doctors to be done examining the patient before I can see who they are. As the minutes pass, I become overwhelmed by fear again. Fuck, she has to be here. She has to be here. I run back up the aisles I've already searched but I still can't find her.

My hands shoot up into my hair as I feel the panic begin to set in.

"Anastasia!" I yell, desperately. Answer me, baby. I know you're here, just answer me.

"Mr. Grey?" a weak voice behind me asks. I whirl around and see Hannah laying the bed behind me with a broken leg.

"Hannah?" I ask, a slight feeling of relief washing over me. Ana was sitting right next to Hannah. If Hannah was able to survive, surely so did Ana.

"Mr. Grey." she replies with relief. "Where is Ana, did you get Ana?"

Enormous, cathartic relief washes over me. Ana is here, Hannah has seen her.

"No I haven't been able to find her yet. Do you know where she is?" I ask. The respite in my voice is obvious. Its the first time I've been able to speak without yelling in days. Hannah looks back at me confused.

"Sh-she isn't with you?" she stutters weakly. "I thought you would have got her by now."

"I've only just gotten here, I haven't been able to find her."

"She isn't here Mr. Grey."

It feels as though my blood freezes in my veins.

"What do you mean she isn't here, Hannah? You haven't seen her?" I demand, my voice hardening once again.

"No." She whispers, wincing with pain. "Mr. Grey, Ana wasn't on the plane."

"What? What do you mean she wasn't on the plane?" I ask.

"We were running late. She got stopped at security for a random search. She told me to go ahead and she'd meet me on the plane when they were finished, but she never came. She wasn't on the plane."

My first reaction is relief. Oh thank god, she wasn't on the plane. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't thirsty. She wasn't broken or burned or cut or stranded at sea for days. Then my mind catches up. If she wasn't on the plane, why haven't I heard from her ? Surely, if she missed her flight she would have called me and asked me to send the jet or at the very least book another flight. I've been combing through our bank accounts for the last 24 hours as I've been filtering money to search and rescue. There haven't been any additional flights book. If she wasn't on the plane, where the fuck is she?

I turn away from Hannah, reach into my pocket for my blackberry and begin dialing her number furiously. It rings. It's been off, or dead for days, going to straight to voicemail, but now, it rings.

"Have you figured it out, Grey?" a cold male voice answers. My muscles clench and I feel like my body has frozen.

"Who is this?" I demand. He laughs.

"All you need to know, is that I'm the man who has your wife."


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you still there, Grey?" The voice says again. My mouth is dry.

"Where is she?" I whisper, hoarsely.

"Oh we're not going to have time for questions Mr. Grey, We don't even really have time to talk at all, so here's what you're going to do. You're going to get on your plane, and you're going to go home. And you're going to wait for me to call you again. Do you understand, Grey?"

"Where is my wife?" I demand, anger boiling inside of me.

"Don't worry, she's here. Safe with me. For now that is. If you do what I say, I don't see why you wouldn't have her back in no time at all."

"I swear to god, if you touch her. If you hurt her. I will hunt you down and I will fucking kill you. Where the fuck is my wife?!"

"I have to go now, Grey. I suggest you follow my instructions or when I do send your wife back to you, it will be piece by piece.

The phone goes dead. No. No. Fuck! I charge out of the room of injured people and into the waiting crowd outside of the building. I'm temporarily blinded by the flashes of light bulbs as I force my way through the throng of onlookers. Photographers yell questions at me and news crews are shoving microphones in my face.

"Is your wife inside Mr. Grey?"

"Is your wife injured Mr. Grey?"

"Mr. Grey, can you confirm that your wife is alive?"

I feel a tug on my arm and I'm pulled forward. My head turns to see who has hold of me and I see that it's Taylor. He's pushing us through the crowd quickly, getting me away from the media. When we make it to the parking lot of the marina, I see my family members huddled around the black SUVs.

Kate immediately breaks into tears when she sees me.

"Oh god, oh god, she's not with him. No, she wasn't rescued." She wails. Mia and my mother also begin to cry but I ignore them, and climb into the front seat of the SUV. Taylor appears at the window.

"Mrs. Grey, sir?" he asks solemnly.

"We need to get back to the airport." I respond. "Get everyone in the fucking car and lets go." Taylor ushers the now hysterical Kate into the backseat along with Elliot, Ethan and Mia. Elliot and Ethan try to calm the women in the back seat as they cry, but Kate is beyond herself. She's screaming in her grief. The sound is grating on me but I can't speak. I'm far beyond words. I'm murderously enraged. Out of control, the only thing I can do is obey the commands of the man who has stolen the only thing in my life that has meaning. We fly down the highway towards the airport. No one bothers to talk to me or ask me any questions. They assume my silence is grief, and on some level it is, but its mostly rage.

When we pull on the tarmac, I jump out of the car and away from Kate's screams. I pull out my blackberry.

"Welch!" I snap into the phone once he answers. "I need a trace on Mrs. Grey's phone, now. I need to know where it is, you got that? I don't care what your doing, I need you to stop and fucking find that phone." I don't even give him time to reply before I hang up. I'm pacing, stomping really, back and forth in front of the stairs that ascend into my plane. How am I going to sit still through the two hour flight? Fuck. I grab the railing to the stairs and pull myself up.

I take my seat and stare venomously at Kate, who is laying with her head in Elliot's lap, sobbing. The captain announces we are ready for take off and as we begin taxing over the airfield, Taylor comes to sit beside me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Sir, Welch isn't going to find Anastasia by tracking her phone. This isn't the type of situation where that's going to work. I'm sorry sir, but she's gone. If she wasn't brought in with the survivors than she…"

"She's not fucking dead, Taylor!" I exclaim.

"Sir, its time to accept…"

"Jesus fucking christ, Taylor! She's not fucking dead! She wasn't on the fucking plane!

Everything falls silent around me. I hear Kate make a long shuttering gasp as she sits up, her bloodshot eyes baring into me.

"Wha-What do you m-m-mean she wa-wasn't on the p-lane." She chokes.

"Exactly what I just fucking said." I answer coldly. "She wasn't on the fucking plane."

"Where is she?" Mia asks so softly I can barely hear her.

My head falls into my hands. I want to cry. I wish I could cry. I'm jealous of the release Kate and Mia and my mother get to have, that I can't. I haven't been able to cry, not this whole time she's been gone. The emotion just sits inside of me building and building and now I feel as if I might explode. The stress is too much to handle. Unwittingly, my arm shoots out and punches the wall of the plane with as much force as I can muster. My knuckles break against the metal of the wall but I can barely feel it. It helps. The pain, the release of frustration, it all helps. It takes away from the all consuming anger and stress.

"Christian!" My mother yells. She unbuckles her seatbelt and sinks to her knees in front of me, gingerly taking my hand in hers.

"Someone bring me a towel and some ice." she asks as she examines my broken hand. Mia jumps to her feet and brings back the things my mother asked for. As she wraps my hand in some tape from the first aid kit, Kate begins her inquisition.

"Where is she Christian. If she wasn't on the plane, where is she?"

"I don't know." I grimmace.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kate demands. "If you don't know where she is then how do you know she wasn't on the plane?"

"Hannah." I say darkly. "Hannah was there. She said she wasn't on the plane."

"Maybe she just didn't make it to her seat?" Carrick asks. "You haven't heard from her since the accident, I find it very unlikely that she just missed the flight and didn't call."

"She didn't miss the flight."

"I'm not following you." Carrick continues warily.

"Someone has her. They picked her up at security or, I don't know. But someone has her."

"Sir.." Taylor begins. "Who has her, where is Mrs. Grey?"

Its difficult to recount the story of the phone call I received without flying into a blinding rage, but I manage. My family stares at me with looks of horror on the face.

"But I don't understand." Elliot says. "If they've had her this whole time why are they just calling you now?"

"The plane crash. I wouldn't have believed them if they called me before. They needed me to see that she wasn't killed in the plane crash, for Hannah to confirm she wasn't on the plane before I would believe them."

"So were they there? Did they see you with Hannah?" My mother asks.

"Maybe. I doubt it. They knew I'd find her."

"Oh god! Oh god!" Kate says as her chest starts convulsing again.

"Kate, I really can't fucking take that right now." I spit at her. She covers her mouth and tries to calm herself.

"What can I do for you?" my mother asks.

"Where's Mrs. Jones? Bring me my son." I say, and moments later, Teddy is in my arms, keeping away the pain until we arrive in Seattle.

We're taxing over the tarmac at SEATAC when I'm finally able to check my voicemail from Welch.

"Mr. Grey, I've located Mrs. Grey's phone." He says. "She's at your house."

I listen to the voicemail three times, sure I've heard it incorrectly. There's no way her phone is at the house. She had it with her in Australia and I haven't left the house in days, except to go to Los Angeles that is. Shit.

"Where to Mr. Grey?" Taylor asks carefully after we've all piled into the Audi SUV.

"Home." I respond. "And Taylor, I need you to get me there as quickly as possible."

I burst through my front door. I'm followed by Kate, Elliot, Mia, Ethan, Taylor and my parents who all have instructions. Find Ana's phone. We tear through the downstairs of the house while the security team checks the perimeter for signs of forced entry. When they find nothing, I tell them to help the others look. I fly up the stairs, taking them two at a time and burst into my bedroom door. There it is. Ana's phone. Its sitting on the nightstand, plugged into the charger like she's just forgot to pick it up after waking up for work in the morning. I approach it cautiously, waiting for it to ring. A musical ringtone fills the air but it doesn't come from Ana's phone. I look down at the bed and there is a small box, the label is addressed to me. I rip open the package and a small, pre-paid cell phone falls out, ringing and vibrating in my hands. The number is blocked.

"Hello?" I say cautiously into the phone.

"Chr-ist-ian." a broken, terrified voice breathes.

I know that voice. Better than anything else in the world. The voice belongs to Ana.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ana!" I yell. The relief of hearing her voice is indescribable. She's alive. I now know, she is alive. "Ana, oh god, Ana."

"Chr-istian." she says again and I can hear that she's crying.

"Are you okay, baby? Have they hurt you? Where are you?"

"I-I don't know. I'm in a room and its dark, I don't think there are windows." I can barely understand her through her tears.

"Oh god, Ana. Don't worry, baby. I'm going to find you. Do understand? I'm going to find you and I'm going to bring you home."

"Teddy?" She asks.

"He's fine. He's perfect. He misses you."

"I'm so scared."

"Are you hurt, Ana?" I ask, my voice pleading. Her answer is cut off by a loud noise in the background.

"Oh god." She whimpers. "No!" She screams and my body siezes with terror. I hear a succession of loud thumping noises accompanied by her screams.

"Ana!" I scream into the phone and then it goes dead. No. No, no, no, no, no! I take the phone away from my ear and try to redial, try *69, but there is no number to call back. Fuck! They're hurting her. She was screaming. My stomach heaves and I have to run into the bathroom. I vomit violently as my body begins to shake with fear and anger. Taylor bursts through the bathroom door followed by Elliot, Ethan and my father.

"Mr. Grey we heard you scream, what's wrong?"

I slide the cell phone across the bathroom floor and it hits Taylor's feet.

"When I got into the bedroom," I explain, "the package was on the bed. That cell phone was inside and it started ringing. I answered and it was Ana."

"Ana?!" Carrick exclaims. "She's okay? Did she say where she was?"

"She was crying. She said she's in a dark room with no windows."

"Did she say anything about who was keeping her, sir? Does she have any idea of who it is?"

"I didn't get to ask her. I talked to her for maybe 30 seconds and then I heard… I heard her scream. He was beating her." I whirl around to the toilet as I vomit again.

"Shit, Christian." Elliot says.

"I'll get Welch on the line." Taylor says, "See what he can find out from this phone." He disappears through the door and I want to run after him, go with him, but my body is seized with fear. I'm shaking.

"Lets get him off the floor." Ethan says and he and Elliot come forwards and heave me to my feet.

"Wait a minute." Carrick says, as his eyes fall on the night stand. "Isn't that Ana's blackberry?"

I nod my head. "He was here. He left the phone and the package.

"Fuck." Elliot swears. "Christian, maybe you shouldn't stay here."

"No, if he comes here, I want to be here. If he comes here again, I'll fucking kill him myself."

"Maybe Teddy should come stay with us?" Carrick suggests.

"No! I need him with me. He can't be away from me until Ana is back. Not until I get Ana back."

"Lets get downstairs. Mia, Kate and Grace are still looking for Ana's phone. They need to know what happened."

I nod my head. Elliot and Ethan let me go as I test my body to see if I've regained enough composure to stand. When I'm steady, we head down the stairs to tell the girls.

"If you're staying, I'm staying." Mia says, after we've explained the events from upstairs.

"Me too." Kate declares.

"No." Elliot says. "Absolutely not."

Kate glares at him. "Elliot. Christian can't stay here alone. He's going to need help with Teddy."

"Christian has security and staff."

"I'm staying too." My mom answers. Everyone looks at her, and my dad shakes his head in disbelief.

"I wont leave my son alone when he's being stalked by a mad man. We should all stay. The more numbers the better."

"I'll increase security." I assure them. I think back to the early months of Ana's pregnancy when she had finally convinced me to ease security on our family. She hated having an entourage follow her around and with Jack no longer a problem, she didn't believe the security was still necessary. I stupidly agreed. Why the fuck did I agree? If she'd had Sawyer with her in Australia, none of this would have happened.

_Except she would have been on that damn plane. _

No, that would have been better. Hannah was fine, Ana would have been fine too. As it is, I have no idea where she is and I know she's being hurt. A horrific image crosses my mind of strange hands running over her naked body and I have to swallow back bile. I can't think about that. I don't know anything like that has happened and If I dwell on it, I'll go crazy.

"Mom, will you bring Teddy to me? I need to hold him."

"Of course dear."

"Taylor." I say turning to him. My voice lacks its usual undertone of authority and it bothers me.

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to hire back the security team. And anyone else good that you know of. Pay them whatever they want."

"Yes, sir." he responds and heads off to his office to make phone calls.

My mother appears with Teddy and I take him eagerly, feeling the smallest amount of my anxiety melt away and even that small amount is liberating.

There is tension in the house. Mrs. Jones has the day off so my mother is cooking lunch for everyone. We've all been awake for over 24 hours but none of us are able to sleep. The only thing we think about is Ana.

I'm sitting in my study, Teddy sleeping soundly in my arms as I read the email from Welch on my laptop. Welch has tracked the serial number and found that it was sold from the Walgreens on Pike St, less than half a mile from Escala. He's got contacts with both the local police and the FBI and is working on getting a warrant for the sales records for that day. Hopefully the fucker used a credit card and we'll be able to connect the name to the purchase. Welch is also working on hacking into the store's security camera footage so that we can see everyone who has entered the store over the past few days. Taylor is scouring Escala with his team, including the newly re-aquired Sawyer, to see if there has been anyone in my apartment.

I feel a little better, knowing my team is on it. It feels like we're making progress. I'm going to find her. I'm going to bring her home. And I'm never going to let her go again. I look down at Teddy.

"Don't worry, precious baby. I'm going to find her. I'm going to bring Mommy home to us."

There is a commotion outside my office door and I look up to see Mia trying to keep a blonde woman out of my office.

"You're not welcome here." Mia snaps.

"Get out of my way, you silly girl." The woman says and my gut clenches as I realize who she is.

"Elena?" I ask hesitantly. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

She pushes her way past Mia who I brush away with my hand and she closes the door behind her.

"Christian." She purrs, a pout on her face. I stare at her suspiciously.

"You shouldn't be here."

"How could I not be here. Gail came into my salon and I heard her talking to Julian. I heard about the flight and that Anastasia was on it."

"She wasn't." I say coldly, straightening in my chair so I sit taller. Her eyes fall on Teddy in my arms.

"Is that him?" She asks. There is a kind smile on her face but I can hear the undertone of disgust in her voice. "Is that your son?"

"Yes." I respond.

"Theodore, isn't it? But, Christian why is he in here with you? Surely there is a nanny that should be taking care of the… baby."

"He's fine here."

"Hmm. Can I hold him?" She asks.

"No!" I snap, holding Teddy tight against my chest. Teddy is Ana's. Ana would be furious if Elena got anywhere near him. Ana will be furious that Elena came here at all.

"You should leave." I say.

"Christian, I just came to check on you. Gail said what a difficult time you were having."

"Your concern is noted but entirely unnecessary Elena." I say flatly. "I don't need your support."

"Oh I didn't think you needed support." She says slyly. "I thought I could give you something else that I know you need."

I narrow my eyes at her as she sashays across the room and sits on my desk.

"Christian, we both know that best way to relieve stress and I've come to offer my assistance."

"If you think I would ever touch you again…" I growl.

"Oh god, Christian. I wasn't talking about myself." She glares down at me, her dom persona in full effect. I stare back just as hard so she knows I'm not intimidated.

"I'm going to make some calls and have a suitable submissive delivered to you." She says, her voice softening. "Do you have a playroom here or should I have her sent to Escala?"

"I have no interest in a submissive, Elena." I say darkly. "I am a happily married man. Now get the fuck out of my house before I have security escort you out."

"Now, Christian. I'm just looking out for you. I worry about you. If you don't want me to send someone, I wont. But you know it will help." She simpers.

"Like I said, I don't want your help, now please leave." I glare at her but her eyes flick away from mine when her cell phone rings from her chanel bag.

"Oh that must be James." She says. "He's my new toy. Feisty this one, he can take a lot of pai…" She looks down at her phone and frowns, but she answers it anyway.

"Hello? Who is this?" She looks down at me, her brow furrowed and then hands me the phone. I look at her suspiciously and take it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Grey." The cold male voice answers. My breath stops.

"Where is she?" I demand.

"She's right here." the voice replies. "I'd give her the phone but she's a little tied up right now."

"I'll fucking kill you." I respond menacingly. "Let my wife go or I swear to god..."

"Now, Mr. Grey, I don't really like your tone. You ought to be more polite to the man who holds your wife's life in his hands."

"What do you want."

"I want you to suffer, Grey. Simple as that. And we're going to start our little game by you sending your security team away."

"If you think I'm going to let you get near anyone else in my family, you're out of your goddamn mind."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Grey." I hear a loud noise followed by Anastasia's scream.  
>"Ana!" I yell, and I begin shaking again.<p>

"How about now, Grey? Do you feel like sending your security away now?"

"Don't lay another mother fucking finger on my wife you son of a bitch!" I roar into the phone and he sighs.  
>"I really don't know why you have to make it this difficult, Grey." There is another loud noise followed by an even louder scream. I can hear her agony.<p>

"Stop." I whimper. "Please. Please stop."

"Your security?" the man asks.

"Gone. I'll send them away. Just please, please don't hurt my wife again."

"Of course not, Grey. I'm a reasonable man. If you just do what I tell you to do, Anastasia will be fine. I've got to go now, Mr. Grey, but I'll be in contact soon. Once your security has gone, that is."

The phone goes dead and my hand drops to my desk as the pain washes over me.

"Christian, what happened?" Elena asks, reaching out to take her phone back. I jerk it out of her reach.

"How did he get your number?" I ask.

"Who? What are you talking about?" She replies and I can see the confusion on her face.

"The man who has my wife!" I demand. "How did he get your number?"

"What? I thought Anastasia was in a plane crash. Who has her?"

She doesn't know. I look through the call history and see that the number had been blocked. The door to my office bursts open and nearly every one of my family members pours in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" My mother yells as she sees Elena. "Get out!"

"No." I say. She turns her furious gaze to me.

"Christian, I thought I made it clear that you were to never see this woman again."

"I haven't, mom. She shouldn't have been here tonight. But now, she needs to stay. I need her phone." I turn to Taylor. "I got another call, on Mrs. Lincoln's phone this time. Give it to Welch. See what he can find."

Taylor comes forward and takes the phone. I stare down at my son and tremble.

"Look, Christian. You keep the phone, I'll replace it." Elena says, and she looks at Grace. "And, I'll just see my way out. I'll have the uh… matter we discussed delivered to Escala tomorrow. Come, or don't come, its up to you." She smiles wickedly down at me as she rises off my desk and walks out of the room.

There is an uncomfortable silence in the office until Elliot finally speaks.

"What did they say, Christian?"

"He wants me to send my security away." I respond flatly, not taking my eyes of Teddy.

"Christian, you can't send security away. Don't you even think about it.." my mother says, panicked.

"I'm not going to, mom. I wont leave my son unprotected. I'm just going to have to wait it out to find out what this fucker wants."

I spend the next few hours either on the phone with Welch or speaking with Taylor in my office, trying to come up with a plan of action. He and his team are to remain out of sight. They will watch my family without anyone knowing they are here. I know Taylor can avoid being found if he wants to be. Its getting late and I can feel the sleepless nights starting to catch up with me. I'm exhausted but I'm terrified to sleep. I'm terrified I might miss something important, but even more of the nightmares I know will come.

I head out to the living room and sit at my piano and play. It doesn't distract me the way it normally does but since Gail has put down Teddy in the nursery, it's the only thing I have. My family sits on the couch watching me play. Elliot has fallen asleep with his head in Kate's lap, but no one else seems to want to go to bed. I focus on the notes, not allowing any thoughts to enter my mind when I hear the doorbell. I jump up and run to the door, Carrick, Ethan and Taylor on my heels. Taylor jumps out of sight next to the door and I think I see him send a silent hand signal to his team as they watch us over the CCTV. He nods at me and I wrench open the door and find a courier carrying another small brown package.

"Mr. Christian Grey?" He asks, and I have to swallow the lump in my throat to answer.

"Yes." I say. He hands me a paper to sign. I scribble a half-hearted signature and take the package. Ethan remembers to tip the courier as I walk back into the house, ripping the package as I go. I'm at the kitchen counter when I finally get into it and I pull out a note and a stained towel.

"What is that?" Ethan asks. "What's all over it."

"Oh my god, is that blood?" My mother asks. I drop the towel and read the note.

_I told you to send away your security, Mr. Grey._


	10. Chapter 10

Day 8:

From: Jason Taylor

Subject: Fluid Analysis Results

Date: July 20th 2012 Time: 07:15 AM

To: Christian Grey

Mr. Grey. The lab was able to confirm the blood on the towel belongs to Mrs. Grey.

-T

I'm sitting in my study as I read the email, a very full glass of bourbon in my hand. Its only me, Carrick, Elliot and Ethan in the house now. My entire security team has gone to my parents house in Bellevue along with my mother, Mia, Teddy and Mrs. Jones. Without my son here, I am consumed with pain and I try to subdue it with liquor.

I can't handle it anymore. I can't do it. This is going to kill me, I know it. I will literally do anything to avoid feeling the way I feel now. I drain my glass and reach for laptop to compose an email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Time and Place

Date: July 20th 2012 Time: 07:18 AM

To: Elena Lincoln

9am. Escala.

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holding INC

I push away from the desk, and trudge up the stairs to my bedroom. In the bottom drawer of my dresser is a pair of worn, faded, ripped jeans. I put them on and pull a black t-shirt out of the top drawer.

On the way to Escala, I stop at the Liquor store and buy another bottle of bourbon. It clinks against the metal railing of the elevator as I ride up the elevator to my Escala penthouse and I realize I'm shaking. I have not thoughts. No guilt. No remorse. Nothing. I have only pain. I will do anything to get rid of this pain.

The elevator doors open and Elena is waiting in the foyer.

"Christian." She purrs, a wide, genuine smile on her face.

"Elena." I acknowledge her flatly. She gestures towards the apartment and I follow after her robotically.

"Can I fix you a drink?" Elena asks and I hand her the bottle of bourbon. I can't focus on anything, my eyes just stare blankly into nothing.

I feel something cold and look down to see Elena has placed a glass of bourbon in my hand and I swallow it in one gulp.

"Its natural to be nervous." Elena says reassuringly. "Its been a long time for you Christian. But I assure you, once you're in there it will be like riding a bike."

"There's nothing in there." I say lifelessly.

"What do you mean, Christian?"

"Ana." my voice breaks. "She doesn't like the whips and canes. I got rid of them."

"Well you'll need to get creative then." She smiles, pouring me another drink. "It's going to feel good, Christian."

I slam the drink once more, kick off my shoes, tear off my tshirt and march forward towards my playroom. Its already unlocked and I know its because Elena has already let the girl in. She knows where the spare key is kept in the laundry room.

I enter the dark red room and see the small brown haired girl kneeling by the door out of the corner of my eye. I cross the room and look at the wall. Once full of whips, canes, belts, it now only holds one brown riding crop and a suede flogger. I can't use these things. These are Ana's things.

I look around the room and realize, everything in here is Ana's. That's the bed I tie her to to keep her still when I fuck her. That's the cross I truss her up on when I want to worship her. That's the bench I bend her over when I spank her. Everything in here is Ana.

I sit on the bed and look at the naked girl kneeling on the floor, staring at the ground. It sickens me. I actually feel sick seeing her there like that. I can't do this. I don't want to do this. I don't want to fuck some strange girl, I want to make love to my wife, my Ana. Only Ana.

I push away from the bed and storm out of the room without a word.  
>"Christian, what's wrong?" Elena asks. She's in the kitchen with a glass of wine.<p>

"Get out." I say.

"Christian?"

"Get the fuck out of my apartment and take her with you!" I yell. I can feel how hard my glare is, hear the threatening undertone of my voice. Elena shivers slightly.

"But I thought…" She stops speaking as a furiously charge at her. I knock the glass out of her hand and it shatters on the floor. I'm towering over her, my anger radiating over her as I scream.

"Get the FUCK out of my apartment Elena, and don't ever fucking come back here. Do you understand? We do not know each other any more. I do not want to know you. GET THE FUCK OUT!"

She gasps and hurries forward. I hear her dragging the girl with her as she flees from the apartment. I look down at the broken glass on the floor. My hands fly up into my hair and I tug, feeling overwhelmed, by what? Anger? Sadness? Frustration. Its frustration. My entire adult life, I've been in control, the master of my universe. I needed it. I thrived on it. And now it's gone. Nothing is in my control. I can't even hire a fucking security team.

I reach up to the rack where my crystal wine glasses hang and begin to shatter them on the floor. I storm into the living room, pick up a chair and throw it into the television. I'm a bull, raging through my own home, and I don't care. I want to destroy everything. I can control that.

My living room and kitchen lay in shambles. Mrs. Jones is going to have a heart attack when she finds this mess, but I don't care.

I need to get home, god knows what I've missed since I've been here, but I can't go home in these clothes. I can't bear to have them touch me any longer. I strip as I make my way through the mess of broken glass and furniture towards my bedroom. I pull new clothes out of my dresser, wondering briefly if I should also take a shower. I want to wash the grime of what I almost did off of me. I stomp towards the bathroom when I hear the blood curdling sound of a musical ringtone. I turn and see another pre-paid cell phone sitting on the nightstand. I launch myself at it.

"Hello? Hello?" I say desperately.

"Are you bored yet, Grey?" the cold voice asks.

"What?" I respond confused. He sighs.

"I'm getting bored. Anastasia isn't very good company. She doesn't seem to want to talk to me, which is rather rude. I'm a very interesting person to talk to. Don't you agree, Grey?"

"Give her back. I'll give you whatever you want, just give her back to me."

"I was hoping you'd say that." he sneers.

"What do you want?" I ask desperately.

"I want $20 million dollars. And every hour it takes you to get it to me, you're going to add another million."

"Yes. Yes. I can give you that. Just tell me where you want to make the trade!"

"The address is in your car, Grey. I hope you don't have trouble finding the place."

"And if I get it to you. When, when I get it to you, you'll give me Anastasia? She'll be alive and safe?"

"Of course I will, Grey. I'm not a liar. You give me the money, I give you the girl."

"I have to go now. I hope to see you soon, Mr. Grey."

The phone goes dead and I run back through my broken apartment, pulling out my blackberry as I go.

"Mr. Grey?" Taylor answers on the first ring.

"Taylor, he's made his demand. I'm at Escala, I need you to come pick me up. I can't drive. Taylor, HURRY!

"Right away, sir. I'm just around the corner."

I hang up the phone as the doors to the elevator close. Taylor is waiting for me in the garage when I make it down stairs, I fly into the front seat of the Audi SUV and dial the number for my accountant.

"Mr. Calloway's office, this is Abigail."

"I need to speak to Calloway, right away." I demand. "This is Christian Grey."

"I'll transfer you." I listen to the hold music. Taylor is staring at me, waiting for instructions but I ignore him.

"Mr. Grey." Calloway's voice greets me.

"How long will it take you to get a wire transfer of $20 million dollars together?"

"$20 million dollars Mr. Grey?"

"That's what I fucking said!" I roar.

"Can I ask why you need such a large sum of money at once?"

"No! How long quickly can you get a wire transfer of $20 million dollars together?

"Well, a sum that large may take some time. I'm going to have to access several of your offshore accounts to get that kind of money. I'd say that fastest I could get it together would be 6-7 hours."

"You have 5." I said harshly. "And I'm going to need $25 million. Call me when it's available." I hang up the phone.

"Mr. Grey?" Taylor asks.

"He wants money. All he wanted was money. Shit!" I exit the car and race across the lot to my R8. There is a piece of paper on the front seat with a bank account number and a phone number scribbled on it. I tuck the paper in the pocket of my jeans and run back to the Audi.

"Where to Mr. Grey?" Taylor asks.

"Take me to Bellevue. I want to see my son." We drive over the bridge over Lake Washington in silence. I'm anxious now. Why didn't he demand the money up front? I wouldn't have denied him once I knew he had Anastasia. All this stress, fear, worry, pain and all he wanted was money. I need to distract myself.

"Why were you around the corner from Escala?" I ask.

"Welch was able to find the address the courier picked up the package with the towel from so I was investigating, but it was an abandoned warehouse. I searched the property but didn't find anything. We're dealing with someone who knows what he's doing sir."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Taylor. We're going to get her back. 5 hours and I'll have her back.:

I'm sitting in the armchair of my mother's living room, staring at the clock while I rock my son back and forth. When my blackberry rings, Mia reaches out to take Teddy and I begin to pace as I answer the phone.

"Grey." I bark.

"Its done sir. I have the whole total ready to transfer."

"Good. The bank account number for the transfer is 2A 660139208816. Don't transfer the money until I call you back."

"Yes, Mr. Grey."

I hang up the phone and call the number on the bottom of the piece of paper.

"Already, Mr. Grey? I'm impressed." The voice said in greeting.

"Where do I meet you?"

"The trade will be made on Pier 66. I'll see you soon, Mr. Grey."

He hangs up and I walk to Mia, kiss Teddy on the forehead and call for Taylor. He drives like a bat out of hell towards Pier 66 and as we both run up the dock, I call the number again.

"I don't have the money yet, Grey." the cold voice says impatiently.

"Is she here?" I ask.

"She's here, but I'm not going to tell you where until I have the money. And before you get any ideas, you should know that I can see you and if you take one step, I'll fucking kill her."

I turn to Taylor and nod. He has my accountant on his cell phone.

"Transfer the money." Taylor says. We wait in silence for a moment as I wait for the voice to speak, to tell me he got the money. To tell me where Ana is."

Thirty seconds pass and the phone goes dead.

"No!" I scream and I redial the number.

I'm sorry but the person you have called has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet.. goodbye.

"No!" I yell again, looking down at the phone in terror.

"Sir?" Taylor asks.

"Anastasia!" I call out, looking around desperately. I run further down the pier to the abandoned fish storage warehouse, calling out to her as I go.

"Anastasia! Anastasia!" There is no answer. No. No this cannot be happening. No. What have I done? Taylor approaches the warehouse and kicks the door in. I chase after him. Oh dear god, please.

"Anastasia!" I call, desperately. "Anastasia." my voice echos off the walls as Taylor begins tearing through the building. I don't see her. I don't see her. My world is collapsing in on me. Fuck, its over. He played me. Why would I trust the man who kidnapped my wife? Fuck! Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!

"Anastasia!" I call again.

"Christian!"

I hear a weak, muffled voice behind me. There is a door to the left of the room and I launch myself towards it, throwing it open so quickly the hinges grown.

"Anastasia." I whimper as I look down at my broken, bloody and badly bruised wife tied to a chair in a closet. I fall to my knees and burst into wet, cathartic tears.


	11. Chapter 11

I remember the last time I was here. The last time Anastasia was in the hospital. I thought that had been excruciating. How wrong I had been. I would trade that 1000 times over for what I'm going through now. What had been wrong then? Some bruised ribs, a clean gunshot wound and a hairline fracture. Childs play compared to now. Ana is in surgery, having a bleed in her right kidney repaired while they simultaneously repair her ruptured spleen. She has three broken ribs, a ruptured eardrum, and a fractured ankle. Not to mention the general battered state of her entire body. Her lips were split, her eyes were black… I try to shake the image out of my mind and look down at the baby in my arms. His wide, blue eyes are open and I shake a plastic key ring for him. He laughs and the sound is cathartic.

The double doors to the surgery floor open.

"Grey?" The doctor calls and my head snaps up.

"Here, Grey." I say incoherently. "I'm Christian Grey."

"Mr. Grey we were able to stop the bleeding from her kidney and repair the rupture in her spleen. She's being moved into recovery as we speak."

"She's okay?" I ask, shifting the baby as I stand.

"We're going to monitor her overnight, and she's got a long road of recovery in front of her, but her vitals are strong."

"Can I see her?" I ask.

"Of course, Mr. Grey, but you shouldn't take the baby into the ICU."

I turn and hand Teddy to my mother and follow the doctor onto the surgery floor. They have me put a gown and hair cover on before I'm allowed to enter her room. When I see her, I barely recognize her. There are tubes coming out of every part of her.

"The tubes?" I ask.

"She's intibated for now. It was a rough surgery and the tube in her mouth is helping her breathe."

I nod and sit next to her bedside, taking her cold hand in mine. I can barely stand to look at the bruises that cover her skin. Her face is so swollen, she doesn't even look like herself. But its her. She's here. She's really here. How many times have I thought I'd lost her over the past week? But I didn't. She's going to be fine. She may be hurt, but she will heal. I will help her heal and she will be my perfect Anastasia again.

I reach up and brush her hair out of her face. I want to touch her, all of her. I want to hold her in my arms. Protect her from the world. I lean over and kiss her on the forehead while she sleeps.

"Christian." someone whispers over me. I lift my head off the side of the bed and see Kate standing over me.

"How is she?" She asks.

"The same. She's having trouble coming out from under the anesthesia but the doctors said we shouldn't worry. She's hurt and her body needs time to heal." I say. I already know these things. I've had them told to me before. Ana didn't wake up for almost two days last time.

"I need to do an examination, Mr. Grey." the doctor says as she enters. Its been two hours since anyone has come into this room and I'm startled by the interruption. I stand and back three steps away to allow the doctor to get around the bed. This is far as I'm going away from Anastasia's side and I give the doctor a look that tells her I'm not to be trifled with. She listens to her breathing and checks her pupils and takes all of her vitals. I watch as she stands and removes the stethoscope from her ears.

"I think we can take the intubation tube out now." The doctor says.

"And that's good, right?" I ask.  
>"That's very good." She smiles. "I'll have an intern come in and remove it once I'm done here, if you'll step out Mr. Grey."<p>

"I'm not leaving." I say sternly.

"Mr. Grey, I need to perform a vaginal exam on your wife, for privacy reasons, I need to ask you to please step outside."

"Why do you need to do a vaginal exam?" I ask, suddenly cautious.

"Its standard procedure in these situations, Mr. Grey. I need to do a rape kit." The door opens and another doctor in blue scrubs enters pushing a tray of sterile instruments.

"I'm not going to leave." I say again. The doctor frowns but accepts my position.

"Alright Mr. Grey."

They put Ana's legs up in the stirrups and cover her with a blue paper blanket. I watch them probe her with cotton swabs and examine her. When they're finished, one doctor collects and labels the samples while the other doctor throws away the paper blanket and puts Ana back into a resting position. I take my place next to her bed and grab her hand again, desperately trying not to think of what a rape kit means.

"Is she any better?" My mother asks as she enters the room a little while later. I shake my head.

"The doctor, the doctor came and did a… a rape kit." I say with difficulty.

"Oh Christian. That's just standard procedure. Its more to rule out the possibility than anything. Don't worry until there is something to worry about." She says.

"I just… I just can't stop thinking about it. What if he…"

"Then it will have been a horrible trama that Ana has faced and she'll need all our love and support to move on. For you too, Christian. We're all here for you too."

"Where's Teddy?" I ask.

"He's with Kate. They've gone home for the night. I'd just thought I'd check in on Ana and you before I headed home too. Can I get you anything?"

I shake my head.

"Why don't you come home with me? You could use a good nights rest after this horrific week and they'll call us if anything changes in Ana's condition."

"I'm not leaving. I'm going to be here when she wakes up."

My mothers brow furrows with worry, but she doesn't push me any further.

"Ok darling, I love you. Try and get some sleep." She says. She kisses my hair and quietly exits the room.

I'm awoken the next morning by my blackberry buzzing in my pocket. Shit, what time is it? I look up to Ana, but she's still asleep. I wonder when it will be time to worry? I pull out my phone and walk to the window.

"Grey." I answer.

"How is she doing?" Ros asks.

"She's going to be okay." I say. "She's not good now, but she's going to be okay."

"I'm glad to hear it. I just wanted to call and tell you how sorry I am for this ordeal you've been through and to give you an update on GEH."

Fuck, I haven't even thought about work in days. What the fuck has been going on in my company?

"I've smoothed over the South Sudan deal and we'll begin breaking ground there early next month. Our lawyers are negotiating a settlement deal with the Taiwanese but they're trying to lowball us. They're pretty damn pissed about that protection of assets clause in our contract."

"I don't give a fuck what they're pissed about. I'm pissed about the millions of dollars in cargo and damaged vessels we've lost do to their inability to protect their own harbors from fucking pirates." I say.

I can feel the CEO returning and it feels good. I feel in control. God I've missed this. I've needed this. I need to get back to work as soon as possible. I look down at Anastasia. Once I can get her out of here, I'll start working from home until she's fully healed.

"CC me on the emails for the Taiwanese situation, Ros. I'm not going to let them fuck us over on this deal."

"Sure thing, Christian." Ros says. "And give Ana my best."

"I will." I say and I hang up the phone, but instead of putting it away, I begin dialing another number.

"Christian, is she okay?" Kate's panicked voice asks.

"She's fine. She still hasn't woken up. I just wanted to call and ask how my son is doing?"

"Oh." Kate breathes, relieved. "Teddy is great! Elliot has him on the playmat and they've been playing peek-a-boo for about twenty minutes."

I feel a wave of jealousy rip through me. I miss him, my son. He's been the only real comfort to me over this hellish week and a half and I'm never going to forget that. I yearn to have him near me now and I'm sure I always will. He is my talisman against the pain of loss and loneliness and I will cherish him forever.

"I miss him," I admit. "I wish he could sit here with me and his mom."

"The ICU is no place for babies, Christian. He could get really sick."

"I know."

"Ana will be up and around in no time and you three will have all the time in the world." Kate promises.

"Thanks, Kate. Call me if you need me."

"You too. I want to know the moment she wakes up."

"I will Kate." I promise.

"Bye, Christian." She says.

I hang up the phone. I've always had a difficult relationship with Kate. She's bossy and pushy and too much like me. And she knows.. about my past. I've never been able to get over that. How easy it would be for her to let it slip to my brother and then my family would know. I hate that she knows. But now… I mean, she's been so helpful with Teddy and the whole situation really. And she loves Ana. She really loves Ana. Can I really dislike someone who loves Ana so unconditionally? It seems wrong, unnatural. I'm going to have to let it go. I don't know how, but I'm going to have to move past it and not worry about her knowing anymore. If she was going to tell, she would have already told, Grey. They're married for fucks sake.

There is a knock on the door and the doctor enters.  
>"Mr. Grey, I need to give you the test results." She says.<p>

"What test results?" I ask, panic returning. "Is everything okay? Is there a reason why she hasn't woken up yet?"

"No, Mr. Grey. Mrs. Grey is improving every time we examine her. She's faced a lot of trauma over the last few days and her brain needs time to rest and process. Its a defense mechanism. She'll wake, when she's ready to wake."

"So what's the matter?"

"Mr. Grey, we've gotten the analysis back on the rape kit." she says. Everything stops. The whole world fucking stops. My body freezes and times slows down as the weight of what's coming hits me. Fuck. No! NO!

"Oh, no Mr. Grey. I'm sorry if I frightened you. The results were negative. My only concern left for her is facing the trama of what happened to her when she wakes up. I wanted to leave information for you about recovery. We have counselling services available as well as support groups that meet weekly, if she needs to talk." She hands me a stack of pamphlets that I take automatically as I nod.

"I'm sorry your family is facing this horrible ordeal, Mr. Grey. Please, don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or need anything. Anything at all, we're right outside the door."

I can't reply. I can't say or do anything. I want to drop to my knees, to thank god he didn't... but its not enough to be thankful for. Why would I be thankful? My Anastasia. My beautiful Anastasia, broken, in the hospital. I should be furious, hell I am furious.

I'm going to fucking kill him. I'm going to hunt him down and fucking kill him with my bare hands. I'm going to beat the shit out of him. Beat him to fucking death.

The rage is building and I think the doctor senses that I need privacy because she backs quickly out of the room.

Its all flooding over me again. I'm re-living the horror of finding her again. So he didn't rape her, he still touched her. He still hit her. He still broke her. What am I going to do? I'm so fucking furious right now, I could break something, someone. I wish I hadn't already destroyed Escala because I could do it again. I want to do it again. No, not that's not what I want. I want to find the mother fucker who touched my wife and rip him apart. I pull out my blackberry and pound on the keys as I dial.  
>"Welch!" I growl furiously. "You need to find that fucker! I need you to do whatever you can to find out who the fuck he is and where the fuck he is! I don't care what you have to do, I need you to fucking find him!"<p>

"Yes sir, Mr. Grey. I'm working on it now. He's a slippery son of a bitch and he knows what he's doing to be able to avoid us so well, but I'll find him sir."

I hang up the phone and collapse into the chair, my hands running furiously through my hair as I try to reign in the anger. By the time, I've calmed myself enough to focus, I'm distracted again by a high pitched sound. There are two quick beeps, like a cell phone tone, but my phone is on vibrate. I look around the room, trying to find the sound and my eyes fall on the clear plastic bag that hold Anastasia's torn, bloody clothes. I cross the room in two quick steps, tear open the bag and pull out a stained olive green jacket. I probe the pockets and freeze again as my fingers clasp over something small and hard. I pull out another pre-paid cell phone and open it, there is one unread text message.

**Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Grey. I'll see you again very soon**

I close and grip the phone tightly and hurl it against the far wall. It shatters and the pieces skitter across the linoleum floor. Yes, you'll see me soon, you motherfucker. You'll see me really fucking soon. I turn back to the window but I'm distracted when I hear a low groan behind me. I turn and see Anastasia, wincing with pain but moving.

"Christian?" she murmurs.


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm posting anot her chapter, because I feel all of you, like me, are ready for a little bit of a reprieve from the heavy. Let's get back to some normalcy for a coupcouple chapters, deal?**

**7 weeks later**

_I have her, beneath me. She's pinned, her knees held apart by mine and her hands tied to the bed post. We're fucking, hard. I dive into her again and again. Fuck, she feels good. _

"_Ah!" she cries. _

_That's it baby, feel me. I want to make her come. I want her to come so hard she loses herself, loses all coherency. I pound harder knowing her orgasm is coming._

"_Fuck, ah!" she cries again and I feel her insides start to quiver. Oh yes, baby. That's it, give it to me. _

"_Come for me Ana, I want to feel you come for me." I command and she screams my name as her orgasm rips through her. Jesus christ, I love feeling her squeeze around me as she succumbs to the ecstasy. I thrust so hard, part of my mind wonders if I'm going to bruise her pelvic bone. I don't care, I detonate and pour myself into her. _

Shit! I sit up in bed and throw the duvet back, feeling around the sheets. Oh thank fuck, I didn't come. Since Ana's been home, my nightmares have disappeared but they've been replaced by graphic, erotic dreams where I wake up a sticky fucking mess, its humiliating. The first time Ana had been understanding, the second time, she laughed at me for the entire morning. After that she didn't laugh anymore.

"Jesus, Christian!" She yelled at me when I told her I needed to help her out of the bed so Mrs. Jones could change the sheets again. "If you want sex this badly, make love to me!"

She was frustrated, she still is. I haven't touched her yet. She's too fragile, I'm afraid I'll break her. Its been three weeks since she got home from the hospital and she's doing much better. Her bruises have faded away and the scars from her surgery are no longer pink. Her ribs are still painful though and she's having a difficult time walking with the pain in her barely healed ankle.

I move out of the bed, careful not to wake her and head for the bathroom, grateful once again that my dreams remained dry. Its not that I don't want to make love to her. Fuck, I'd give anything to take her. Its been 4 months now. 4 fucking months since I've been inside my wife. Its so fucking depressing. But she's hurt. I don't want to hurt her. I see her wince every time she moves, hear the gasp of pain escape her lips when she takes too deep of a breath. Rage starts to build in me again. Its been seven weeks since I found Ana in that fish storage warehouse and my team still hasn't been able to track down Lincoln. I'm considering approaching Elena, that bitch abetted him afterall, but I don't want Ana to know I've seen her. I don't want her to know what I almost did. What the fuck was I thinking? A wave of revulsion sweeps over me and I cringe. I didn't do it. I didn't even touch her. I never really wanted it, it was all the grief driving me mad. I didn't do it. I repeat the mantra as I stare disgustedly at myself in the mirror.

I take a shower and when I'm finished, I wrap a towel around myself and walk back into the bedroom.

"Jesus!" I yell, grasping the towel as I see Mrs. Jones sitting on the bed with Ana. She's holding Teddy and she has her breast out, trying to coax him to latch. I look away as the sight of her breast brings back my erotic dream.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Grey. I think he was on a bottle too long. He not going to back to breast feeding."

Ana stares down at our son, frustrated. "I'm not ready to give this up yet." she says.

"Gail!" I interrupt, wondering why they both seem to be oblivious to the fact I'm standing here in a fucking towel.

"I'm sorry Mr. Grey." She says as she climbs off my bed. She turns back to Ana and reaches out for the baby. "I'll give him a bottle."

"Bring it up to me. I want to feed him." She says.

"Yes, Mrs. Grey." Gail replies and disappears from the room. I shake my head and pull a pair of boxer briefs out of my dresser and head into the closet. I'm dressed in a charcoal colored suit, a white shirt and a blue silver tie when I return to the bedroom. Ana looks up at me and frowns.

"Where are you going?" she asks. She's got a bottle in her hands and she's feeding Teddy.

I sit on the edge of the bed and reach out to brush our son's hair, smiling to have him back in his mother's arms.

"I've got a deposition downtown. The Taiwan thing." I say distractedly.

"Its a Saturday." Ana replies, her tone reflecting her displeasure.

"Which is why I'm extremely irritated to be leaving you, Mrs. Grey." I say, leaning over to kiss her. She stops me by raising her hand in front of my face.

"I don't want you to go." she whispers. "I want you to stay home and make love to me." My face falls and I run my hands through my hair while I try to form a response.

"Please, Christian." she begs, her voice so soft its barely a whisper. I reach out and take the hand she holds up in front of my face and softly kiss each one of her fingertips.

"I've got to go, baby. I'll see you in a few hours."

Her face falls as I climb out of the bed and close the bedroom door behind me.

The deposition takes longer than I thought and it pisses me off. The Taiwanese government is attempting to counter-sue us for breach of contract. There is a responsibility of title party provision in the protection of assets clause that mandates the Taiwan government not be responsible for damaged or lost property if my company had been careless in protecting our own assets. I'm here to make a court documented statement recounting all of GEH's protection measures put in place in Taiwan. The whole process takes three fucking hours and when I get home, I need a glass of wine. Gail pours one for me and I drink it gratefully. I turn and see the nanny sitting on the couch with Teddy so I walk over to her and reach out for him.

"There he is." I say as I scoop him into my arms, but as I do he begins to cry.  
>"What's wrong with him?" I ask, my fierce gaze turning down to the nanny. He feels very warm and his face is flushed.<p>

"I think he's getting sick, Mr. Grey." she says.

"Have you called a doctor?" I demand.  
>"No, its just a cold. He'll be fine in a few days."<p>

"Are you a doctor?" I ask incredulously, my irritation growing.  
>"No, Mr. Grey."<p>

"You're fired." I snap and turn towards the kitchen. "Gail, will you take Teddy and put him down? And call my mother and have her come look at him."

"Yes, Mr. Grey." She says, taking him from me. I watch after them, wondering if I should go sit with my sick baby until my mother gets here. I will, but I need to go check on Ana first. Make sure she doesn't need anything. I follow Gail up the stairs but turn into my own bedroom instead of the Nursery. When I open the door, Ana isn't there. I walk to Teddy's bedroom.

"Gail, have you seen Ana?"

"She's in her office Mr. Grey."

"What the fuck is she doing in there? Why is she out of bed?" I demand.

"I believe she's working, sir." Gail replies as she lays, Teddy in his crib.  
>"Stay here with him until I get back." I say and run back down the stairs to the back of the house where Ana's office is.<p>

"What are you doing in here?" I ask when I burst through the door.

"Come in, Mr. Grey." She says flatly, not taking her eyes off the laptop in front of her. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun. She's wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of leggings.

"You need to be in bed."

She looks up and smiles at me wickedly. "I'd be willing to let you take me to bed."

"You need your rest."

Her face crinkles and she looks back down at her computer. "Sorry, Mr. Grey. I simply have too much work to do."

"For the love of god, Anastasia!" I yell in frustration, my hands combing through my hair.

"Is it because of what he did to me?" She asks suddenly. "Do you think I'm defiled now? He didn't touch me Christian, I swear! I'm still yours. I'm still _only_ yours!"

My heart stops and I look back at her, incredulity and pain color my face.

"No, Anastasia! God no! You're not defiled, you're perfect! I don't care about that- No.. No, I do care… I want you Anastasia. I want you so bad, I come all over myself when I fucking sleep next to you! Jesus!" I lean over her placing my hands on each one of the armrests of her chair. "I will never not want you. You are my everything. I'm just afraid, if I touch you, I'll hurt you."

She grabs my tie and pulls my mouth down to hers. Her fingers reach into my hair and hold me in place while her tongue explores my mouth. I groan as I allow myself to kiss her, really kiss her for the first time since she's been home. My cock hardens as she deepens the kiss, taking me ruthlessly.

"Please." She gasps when she pulls away and I can no longer resist her. She sees it in my eyes and she reaches for my belt. I grasp her hands, stopping her as I look down at her with blazing eyes.  
>"No." I say. "Not here. I want you in my bed." I reach down and scoop her up into my arms. She gasps with pain as I pull her close to me and I freeze, my resolve wavering.<br>"Its fine." She says. "I'm fine." And she pulls me into another deep kiss. I growl as I pull away from her and bound across the room, racing through the house and up the stairs as quickly as I can with her in my arms.

When I enter the bedroom, I lay her down on the bed. She's already panting with desire. We waste no time, pulling off our clothes. By the time I'm out of my jacket, shirt and tie, Anastasia is unclasping her bra. When I see her breasts break free, I lunge at them, taking one of her nipples into my mouth and roll my tongue around it while my hand gently pinches and rolls the other one.

"Fuck Christian." she moans and her hands fly into my hair. I sink my teeth gently into her nipple and she cries out, the sound going straight to my aching cock. The strain against my pants is unbearable and I reach down to release my erection. Her hand flies out and grasps me and I feel my breath hitch in my throat. Fuck, I'm not going to last very long. I begin to pull her leggings off her, thankful she's wearing something so easy for me to get into and in one swift motion, she's naked. Yes, I have needed this. Just looking at my wife's beautiful naked body is enough to unravel me but I can't allow myself release. She needs to come first. She always comes first.

I reach out and my fingers find her cliterous and I being swirling them around. She gasps again at the delicious contact. Fuck, she's so gloriously wet. I could take her now. I want to take her now. I dip my fingers into her, swirling them around. She squirms and I place my free hand on top of her to hold her down.

"Christian, please." She begs. "Please, I need you inside of me." I groan and take her nipple back into my mouth.  
>"Take me Christian." She says and I can wait no more. I shake the pants hanging around my knees to the floor and climb out of them. I tear off my shoes and socks and push Ana farther unto the bed and climb after her. Grasping myself, ready to plunge into her, I pause and look down into her lust filled blue eyes.<p>

"If I hurt you, you'll tell me to stop." I say, commanding rather than asking.  
>"Yes." She breathes. And I force myself into her. Holy fuck, it's heaven. I nearly lose control as the hot wetness of her clenches around me. Fuck, she's tight. Really fucking tight. This is home, where I belong. Buried inside my wife. She gasps as I enter her and I freeze.<p>

"Are you okay?" I ask through gritted teeth.  
>"Yes," She responds. "Its just been a while. I'm fine. Its good. Its so good, Christian. Keep going."<p>

I pull out and ease back into her, enjoying every inch of her.  
>"Gah!" she yells out and I'm in ecstasy. Again and again I ease out of her.<p>

"Faster Christian, harder." She begs. I hesitate for a moment before I pick up momentum. Holy fuck this feels so good. My thrusts become more urgent as my worries dissipate under the pleasure. She's not stopping me and I can't stop myself from taking more of her.

"Fuck, Christian!" She cries and I know she's getting close. That's it baby, let me bring you to the edge. Feel that baby? Feel how perfect we fit together? You were made for me baby, and I was made for you. Her insides start to quiver and I know her orgasm is building.

"Give it to me, baby. Come for me." I demand and she does, screaming my name as she writhes beneath me. I lean down and kiss her, taking her screams of pleasure into my mouth. I can control myself no longer.  
>"Ana, oh god, fuck Ana!" I yell and I come violently, harder than I remember ever coming before. Its bewildering, the pleasure that courses through me as I pound into her again and again, pouring myself into her. When at last my orgasm comes to an end, I lie over her, supporting my weight on my elbows. We're both panting. She reaches her hands up and grasps my face, kissing me deeply again. I kiss her back eagerly, pouring all the love I feel for this woman into this one point of intimate contact.<p>

I roll over and wrap my arms gently around her, still reeling from my powerful orgasm.

"You didn't use a condom." she says breaking into my reverie.  
>"No." I said.<p>

"I'm not on the shot."

"Good." I say, too incoherent to speak more than one syllable at a time.

"You want more children?" she asks. I nod.

There is a brief knock on the door and my mother enters the room.  
>"Christian I've just… Oh god!" She screams as both Ana and I reach for the duvet at the bottom of the bed. She turns and runs from the room, her face burning with embarrassment.<p>

I turn and look at Anastasia, horrified and she looks back at me with shock until her face melts into a smile and she bursts in laughter. I can't help it, the joy on her face, for the first time in weeks, melts me and I join her. She rolls over, laying her head on my chest as we both laugh uncontrollably.


	13. Chapter 13

**APOV**

"I'm going to work tomorrow, Christian." I say as we finish our dinner Sunday night. He doesn't answer, he continues to look down at Teddy who is cradled in his arms suckling from a bottle.

"Did you hear me?" I ask.

"Yes." he says, not looking up at me.

"And you don't have anything to say?"

"No, I don't."

My brow furrows and my lips mash together. This isn't like fifty. I was expecting a fight.

"So you're okay with it?" I ask hesitantly. Finally he looks up at me.  
>"No, I just don't want to argue with you Anastasia. You won't be going."<p>

"Christian…"

"No, Ana. I want you to quit. None of this would have happened if you hadn't gone to the writer's summit. I'm not going to let anything like that ever happen again."

"So what?" I snap. "You're planning on just locking me in the house. Keeping me here, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?"

He smiles. "As much as I love the thought of you barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen, baby, I don't plan on holding you prisoner here. Just think of the things we could do if you didn't work. We could travel, show Theodore the world. You can do charity work. You can be active in Teddy's school."

"I want to work, Christian. I love my job."

"I don't want you to work, Anastasia."

"Well that's just tough shit, Christian!" I snap and I storm away from the table. He's not going to force me into quitting my job. I want to show my children that it's okay for a mom to be proud of her success. That their dad isn't the only one who wins the bacon in this family. I push my way into the bedroom and pick up the blackberry charging on the nightstand.

"Hello, Ana. How are you?" Roach asks when he answers.

"I'm doing great, thank you. I'm ready to return to work tomorrow." I say.

"Great, glad to hear it!" He says. "We, uh, have a special project to complete tomorrow, so if you're coming in you'll need to probably wear jeans and some tennis shoes or flats."  
>"Sure." I say. What is going on that I need to wear jeans for?<p>

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ana." he says.

"Bye, Roach." I hang up the phone, satisfied. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Grey.

20 minutes later, Christian bursts into the room, furious. I'm pretty sure Roach has called him.

The fight that ensues isn't pretty. He's pretty fucking pissed at me and he's locked himself in his study. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, space usually helps him calm down in situations like these, but he's taken Teddy with him. I walk downstairs and knock on his study door.

"What!" he snaps. I open it and step inside. He's leaning over his computer, holding the sleeping baby in his arms as he works. He looks up at me and glares.

"Not now, Anastasia."

"I want the baby, Christian." I say softly. He looks angry and I'm afraid he's going to tell me no but his face softens and he motions me forward. I reach into his arms and take Teddy from him, smiling as I cradle him.  
>"I don't want you to go." Christian mutters.<p>

"I know. I'll be careful." I promise. "No more business trips and if I do, I'll take your plane and I won't go without you."  
>"Or security." He adds darkly. I sigh.<p>

"Or security."

"I don't want to fight with you."

"I don't either, Christian." I grab his hand and pull him away from his desk. We take Teddy upstairs together and then I lead him into the bedroom, effectively ending our fight.

Christian leaves early in the morning. I wake up and he's gone. I suspect he doesn't want to see me leave for work. Jeez, I hope he's not still gone by the time I get back.

I grab a pair of jeans from my side of the dresser and wrinkle my nose at them. I haven't tried jeans yet, but when I slip them on I am able to buckle them without difficulty. Ha! Four months and I'm already back in my pre-pregnancy jeans.

When I get downstairs, Mrs. Jones is in the kitchen cleaning up Christian's breakfast.  
>"Hi, Gail." I greet her. "How early did he leave this morning?"<p>

"Around, 7." She says. "He went to drop off Teddy with Mia today since he fired the nanny."

"Oh." I respond. Shit, I forgot about that. Was I really just planning on leaving my baby here all day? Fuck, maybe I'm not ready to go back to work. Thank god Christian remembered.

"I guess I'll need to start looking for new nannies today." I say. Gail smiles at me.

"What can I make you for breakfast Mrs. Grey?" she asks.  
>"Nothing, Gail. I want to get to work early this morning."<p>

She frowns. "Mrs. Grey… Mr. Grey was rather insistent that you eat a good breakfast this morning."

I sigh, ever controlling fifty. "I'll have some granola, I suppose." I say and Mrs. Jones smiles.

When I'm ready to leave, I walk out to my R8 and find a man there waiting for me. Its Sawyer.

"Sawyer!" I say, waving at him.

"Mrs. Grey." He greets me. I smile. I'm glad that if I have to have security with me now, at least its someone I know. We drive in silence down the highway to GP. When I arrive, I notice there are two trucks parked on the curb that look like U-hauls. That's strange.

I walk in through the front door and Claire's face lights up like christmas.

"Ana!" She cries, "Welcome back! We were so worried about you!"

"Thanks, Claire. I'm really happy to be back. I was going crazy cooped up in the house like that.' Its then that I notice she's packing all of her things into a brown box, like the kind they give you when you've been fired. Oh no!

"Claire!" I start. "Are you leaving us?"

"Oh no, Ana. Haven't you heard? We're moving offices today."

Moving offices? No, I hadn't heard anything about that. The door opens behind me and Roach enters pushing a dolly in front of him.

"Oh Ana, you made it. Great to have you back!" He says.

"Roach. What's going on? Why are we moving offices?

"Its coming from the top, Ana. GEH is selling this building." he frowns as he shoves the dolly under a filing cabinet.

Of course he is. That's his plan. He thinks if he puts me in a small office that's impossible to work in and that I hate, I'll quit. He's going to make this as unpleasant for me as possible until he gets what he wants. Well, sorry Mr. Grey. I'm not giving in that easily.

"I'd get your things together, Ana. We're supposed to be out of the building before 10."

Shit! Its 9 already. I dash to my office and open the door. Hannah is there packing things away for me.

"Hannah!" I say and she looks up and beams. I cross the room and hug her tightly, feeling a slight but easily ignorable pain in my ribs.  
>"When I heard about what had happened, I was so sick, Hannah." I say. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone."<p>

"It was hard." She admits, "But I was happy you weren't there. I didn't want you to go through that with me. But what happened to you…" her eyes start to water. "When Mr. Grey showed up looking for you at the recovery center I knew something was really wrong, but I never imagined…"

I hug her again, feeling tears come to my own eyes.

"Lets get packing, or we'll never get out of here in time." I say with a smile, wiping tears away from my eyes.

With Hannah's help and Roach's dolly, it only takes me half an hour to pack up my entire office. I've loaded what I can into my own car, which isn't much as I'm carrying a security detail around with me, and Hannah has graciously offered to take the rest of my things.

I still have no idea where we are going. I didn't think to ask for an address before we left. Shit, I hope I don't lose Roach in traffic. We drive for about 5 minutes and my heart drops as we begin taking a familiar route. He wouldn't have… would he?

10 minutes later, I'm standing outside of my car staring infuriated at the building before me. GEH. He's moving me into his own fucking building. I'm mad. Really mad. This is just too controlling. He can't sell my office just so he feels like he can keep a better eye on me.

"Exciting isn't it?" Hannah says as she comes up beside me. "Its such a beautiful building, and we get to work in the middle of downtown!"

"Exciting isn't the word I would chose." I say. I see Taylor running across the parking lot to me and I roll my eyes. Am I going to be escorted in and out of the building too? And then I realize, I have my own security. I already am going to be escorted in and out of the building. Why is Taylor coming to meet me.

"Mrs. Grey." He says as he approaches.

"Taylor." I reply cautiously.

"I have a parking permit for you ma'am. You're not to park in the main lot with the other employees. If you'll take your car around to the underground garage, your parking space is number 2.

I sigh and reach out to take the pass from him. Sawyer and I climb back into the car and pull into the garage. I drive past a line of really expensive looking cars and pull into the empty space that is mine, not surprised that the car parked next to it, belongs to Christian.

When I get out of the car, more men approach the car and be let me know they'll be taking my boxes upstairs.

"I think I can manage." I tell them. "It really isn't much."

"No ma'am." the man closest to me says. "Mr. Grey says you're not to carry anything."

I roll my eyes and stomp after them. This is ridiculous. My anger grows as we take the elevator up to the 19th floor, not the 20th floor where Christian's office is. Oh good, for a moment I wondered if he was going to make me work with him in his office.

I step out of the elevator and I'm in a large square lobby with warm dark brown walls. On the left, there is a single door with a metal handle. The right wall is made entirely out of glass with two glass double doors. I step through them and see Claire setting up her desk at the front of the empty looking office. Behind her, there is a giant, silver, shiny placard on the wall that says "Grey Publishing". Its nearly identical to the one downstairs that says "Grey House."

I follow the men carrying my boxes through the open space that is huge in comparison to the building we had before, and into my office. Its nearly three times the size of my previous office and it has huge floor to ceiling windows that give me a fantastic view of the Seattle sky line. The office has white marble flooring and light gray painted walls. Its all a little too clinical for me, but I'm sure I can warm it up a bit. I take another look at the view and then look up. Am I directly under him? I shake my head as I sit at the desk which has been all set up for me and begin to unpack my things.

Over the next hour, IT has come in to add my email to the GEH network and to set up extra security precautions on my email. I want to laugh as I wonder it that was supposed to be tongue and cheek but I don't. I'm too angry to be entertained by playful 50 right now. I need to give controlling 50 a piece of my mind.

When I'm finished unpacking my things and I've made sure Hannah has settled in to her desk outside my office, I storm out of the office space and jab the elevator button furiously. When the elevator doors open to the 20th floor, I march out and see Andrea's surprised face.

"Can I help you, Mrs. Grey?" She asks.

"Is he in there?" I demand. There is a new girl sitting at the desk with her, but I'm too mad to acknowledge her right now.

"Yes, Mrs. Grey. He's in a meeting…" She begins but I storm away from her and throw the door to his office open before she can finish her sentence.


	14. Chapter 14

**CPOV**

I turn, furious, towards the door, ready to rip the head off whoever is interrupting my meeting with Welch and Taylor, but I soften when I see Anastasia stomping towards me. She looks pissed, but I knew she would be. I sigh and brace myself for the torrent of her anger.

"Just what in the hell do you call this?" She demands.

"I think I'd call this you interrupting my meeting Mrs. Grey."

"I wouldn't be interrupting your meeting, if I was back at my office at Grey Publishing!"

"That's very true, Mrs. Grey. You'll find your way there if you head down the elevator one floor."

"My old office."

"You don't like your new office?" I ask.

"I liked my old office." She glares down at me and I turn back to Taylor and Welch.

"I think we have enough for today, Gentleman." I say. "Keep me informed of any updates."

"Yes sir, Mr. Grey." Welch says and he and Taylor stand and exit the room.

"You wanted to come back to work." I tell her. "I thought this was a compromise."

"A compromise?" she scoffs. "How is this a compromise."

"The only way I would be comfortable with you going back to work is if I knew you were safe. The only way I can ensure your safety is to have you with me at all times."

"And if you would have communicated that to me, I would have understood, Christian. But you didn't. You just unilaterally decided this. You're treating me like a child again. You can't just stuff me into a filing room and hide me away from the world."

"A filing room? Come on Ana, give me a little more credit than that. That office is very coveted around here. I assure you my accounting department was not very pleased with the move."

"Well neither am I."

I stare at her angry face, unable to say anything more. I don't want to fight with her. I put my elbows on the desk and rest my face in my hands.

"What was I supposed to do, Ana. I'm not ready for this yet."

"What do you mean, you're not ready. This isn't about you Christian."

"Yes it is, Ana. You were taken because of me. I could have insisted you fly on my jet. I could have insisted you take security. But I didn't, and I nearly lost you because of it. I'm not willing to take that risk. I'm not willing to lose you, Ana."

Her face softens and she moves my arms and sits on the desk in front of me.

"Christian you can't protect me from everything. You had no way of knowing any of this would happen. I don't want to live our lives just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I promised you, I would be more careful, and hell, I'm not even mad that you moved my company into your building. I just need you to make these decisions with me Christian. I need you to talk to me. I'm your wife, we're in this together. I just need you to talk to me."

"I'm sorry." I whisper and she leans down to kiss me. I kiss her back, reaching up and caressing her neck as I do. She tries to pull away but I hold her there, not ready to let her go.

"You're not mad?" I whisper against her lips and kiss her again.

"No." She answers, and her fingers grip the lapels of my jacket. I groan and lean closer to her, moving from her lips to her jaw and down her neck.

"Let me make it up to you." I plead.

"Here?" She breathes, "Christian, we're in your office. We're at work."

"I know." I smile against the skin of her neck. My fingers move up and begin to undo the top button of her blouse. "I've never fucked on the this desk before, Mrs. Grey."

"Another first." She whispers and she gasps as I run my tongue down her cleavage. My hand slides up her leg and around to her ass and I smile again.  
>"I might have to introduce casual friday, Mrs. Grey. I've missed your ass in these jeans."<p>

I peel her out of her shirt and reach around to unclasp her bra. I stand and take both of them in my hands, examining them like the work of art they are.  
>"Your breasts are mighty fine, Mrs. Grey."<p>

"Christian, we don't have time. If you want to make love, then make love to me." She pants.

I smile and lay her down on my desk. In seconds, im pulling her jeans and her panties off of her, and my cock springs to life as I look at her naked, dripping on my desk.

"Oh, Mrs. Grey." I say, and I sit back in my chair and bring my face to her glistening wet center.

"Fuck, Christian." She moans as my tongue explores her folds. I lick my way up and swirl my tongue around her clitoris.

"You taste so good, baby." I say and I dip my tongue into her, circling her entrance.

"Please, Christian."

"Not, yet baby. I want you to come like this first."

I move my lips back up to her clitoris and suck lightly as I ease my fingers into her. She cries out again as I rub the sensitive spot at the front of her vagina.

"Shit, ah!" She yells and I feel her begin to tremble. She's close, really close. I bite down, gently, onto her clitoris and she begins to shutter around my fingers.

"Fuck, Christian, I'm coming. Fuck, I'm coming!" she screams. I continue to suck her and pump my fingers in and out of her, refusing to let her come down. While she comes I reach down and release myself from my pants and the moment her orgasm stops, I thrust, hard, into her. She cries out again as I pound into her with a merciless rhythm.

"Fuck. I. Need. This." I say in time with my thrusts. "You. Are. So. Sweet. Ana. I. Love. You. You. Are. Mine."

"Yes!" She screams, meeting me thrust for thrust. "Yours Christian, only yours!" I growl and pound on, as hard as I can without breaking her. I'm getting close. I reach down and rub her clitoris while I fuck her and I feel her insides quicken around me. Yes, baby. That's it. Give it to me!

"Christian!" she cries as she lets go once again and I'm spiraling. I grunt as I try to keep up the furious rhythm of my thrusts while I come. When she comes down, When I come down, I collapse over her.

"I love you, Anastasia."

"I love you, Christian."

I kiss her, consuming her mouth with mine.

I button my fly as Ana quickly skitters off the desk to gather her clothes. I watch her dress with an amused smile on my face, while I straighten my tie. With one last quick kiss, she dashes out of my office and I follow after her. Calm, in control. Just like it should be. I take my blackberry out of my pocket and set it down on the desk in front of my new assistant. Fuck, what was her name? It doesn't matter, I suppose.

"This is dying." I tell her, "Charge it."

"Yes, Sir." She responds, looking down for what I suspect is the phone charger. Has Andrea trained this girl at all? I'm sure she would use the same charger for her own blackberry, or has Andrea not gotten her one?

"Have you gotten your blackberry yet, Miss…? I pause as I remember that I don't know her name.

"Carrington, sir." She says, blushing. "And no, Andrea hasn't given me one yet." Her face burns red as she speaks to me and her eyes never meet mine. I want to roll my eyes. I don't have time for this shit. I remember back when Andrea first started. She looked at me with that same look… the look of wanting. She was a bumbling idiot for weeks, until she realized I was no catch to be had. I'll have to be especially cold to this one until she knocks it off with the hopeful, wide eyed bullshit.

"See that she does." I tell her. I have some correspondence that needs attention, but I don't' trust this girl. I need Andrea, why isn't she at the desk?

"Where is she?" I ask and watch her blush again. Jesus Christ.

"Lunch, sir." She tells me and I nod. I suppose it is about that time. I should order something. Another positive of having Anastasia in my building, I can make sure she eats. Surely this girl can handle a lunch order, right?

"I'm going to be on conference call for about an hour." I say shortly, trying my best to keep my gaze hard as I look down at her. She looks intimidated. Good. "I'll need you to order lunch for Mrs. Grey and I. Two Caesar salads from that place on the corner."

This is a test. I fired the last assistant Andrea hired when she brought me chicken sandwich without mayo.

"Yes, sir." She squeaks and I glare at her as I turn back towards my office.

"I'm sorry, Sir. The phones were purchased with cash. There is no credit card trail from the store for me to follow." Barney says ruefully.

"And you're telling me that none of the CCTV footage is useful?" I ask incredulously.

"I'm sorry sir. I think we're dealing with more than just your average perp on this one. Every camera pointed towards that store during for the hour that matches the sales record has had the footage erased."

"Welch, you have to have something. Fingerprints, hair follicles…"

"Sorry, Mr. Grey. Your residence was clean. No sign of forced entry. It looked as though he may have had a key to get in."

"That's impossible the only people with keys to that house are the staff, my security and me and Mrs. Gre—"

I freeze. Ana was taken at security which means that she probably had her purse on her, with her keys.

"Mr. Grey?" Welch asks nervously.

"He probably had Mrs. Grey's keys. I assume she had her purse on her when she got picked up."

"Does Mrs. Grey keep any codes written down Mr. Grey?" he continues.

"I'm not sure, why?"

"If she had the code to Escala written down, it would explain how the perp was able to get into your apartment."

"Hold on." I say. I reach out for my keyboard and type an email to Anastasia.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Elevator Code

Date: September 3rd 2012 11:35 AM

To:Anastasia Grey

you keep the elevator code to Escala written down anywhere?

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holding Inc

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject:Re: Elevator Code

Date:September 3rd 2012 11:37 AM

To:Christian Grey

Yes, I think it's on the back of the card with the maintenance number on it. It was in my wallet though so I don't have it anymore. Why? You don't remember it? Its 1912 :)

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

"Yes, Welch. He had the code." I say angrily. Wait a minute. How did Elena get in? I had the code changed right after Ana and I moved into the new house. I freeze as I realize what that means. This is it, now it's no longer suspect. I know. Elena was working with whoever took Ana. She knows who it is.

"Taylor." I say. He's remained absolutely silent up until this point and I know it's because he's feeling the same sense of helpless frustration I am.

"I need you to pay a visit to Elena Lincoln." I continue. "She was in Escala the day Ana was found and the only way that would be possible is if she had been aiding the lunatic. She had to have gotten the elevator code from him. Find her and get me a name."

"Yes, Sir." Taylor asks and I hear a beep as he exits the conference call.

"Can you recover the CCTV footage, Barney?" I ask.

"It's possible, sir, but extremely unlikely. It will take me some time to know if I'll even be able to do it."

"What kind of time are we looking at, Barney?"

"Could take about a week, sir." He says.

"Do what you have to do, just find the bastard."

I flip through updates on the construction in South Sudan until I'm interrupted by a knock on my door.

"What!" I snap and Miss Carrington hurries in with my Caesar salad. She sets it on the desk and I glare up at her. "Has my wife eaten?"

"I'll take hers down to her right now, Sir." She says nervously. I nod and she leaves.

I find it very difficult to work for the rest of the day. My mind is consumed by the unanswered questions of Ana's kidnapping. My first inclination had been Andrew Lincoln, Elena's ex-husband. I'd even wasted time having my team try to hunt the bastard down. But, two days ago, when Welch hacked into his financial records, he found Linc was in the Cayman Islands for the entire duration of Ana's absence and her kidnapper had definitely been in Seattle. He broke into both my house and my apartment to leave those packages and he said he could see me when I got to pier 66. That's it. I know no one else who could be connected to Elena that would have a vendetta against me. Now we're back as square one, going over old camera footage and trying to revive a cold trail. I had been so sure of Linc, my gut told me I was right but I was wrong.

Maybe Ana is right. Maybe I should call the FBI. I've almost exhausted all of my resources in tracking him down. Maybe it's time to admit defeat and call the authorities. I'd avoided it to this point thinking my team could get it done faster, knowing they weren't restricted by the legal system in what they could and could not do to find the bastard.

My office phone rings, pulling me out of my thoughts and I answer it.

"What?" I snap.

"Mr. Grey, I have Jason Taylor on the line." Andrea says.

"Put him through." I command.

"Mr. Grey." Taylor says as he comes on the line.

"Well?" I ask.

"She sang like a canary sir. Said she was blackmailed into helping some guy by the name of Joseph Walker. That name mean anything to you?"

"No, but it's about to mean a whole fucking lot, Taylor. Get Welch on it and find him. I want to know where he is and when I do, I'm going to fucking kill him."

"I'll get on it, sir." He says. He hangs up and I feel a dark sense of satisfaction come over me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Rachel's POV**

I arrive at GEH at 6:30AM. Everyone always says you should arrive for your first day of work at least 15 minutes before you're supposed to be there, but now I wish I hadn't. Everything is locked. I peer through the glass and I don't see anyone. Not even the cleaning crew.

"Rachel?" I hear someone shout behind me and I see the blonde girl who interviewed me coming up the steps behind me. What was her name? Fuck, oh Andrea. That's right, Andrea.

"Hi." I say shyly as she comes up on me.

"Glad you could make it this early, and on such short notice." She says, smiling. She unlocks the door and motions to me to walk through first. Once we're through the immaculately clean glass door, she re-locks it, reaches into her pocket and pulls out another set of keys which she hands to me.

"This wont be the first time you open the building, trust me." she says. I nod and take the keys from her.

She walks behind the desk in the huge foyer and starts up the computer. I look around for another chair but I don't see anything. I guess I'll just stand here until she tells me what to do. I watch as she pulls out a digital camera. She points it at me.

"Smile." She says brightly and I'm blinded by the flash.

"What.." I begin but she interrupts me.

"Its for your security badge. You won't be able to get into a lot of areas around the building without one."

While she uploads the photo into the computer, she unlocks the bottom right drawer of the desk and pulls out a plastic badge. She places it in a machine and a minute later hands me a newly laminated badge with my picture on it. Ugh, its not a great picture.

I follow her away from the desk and to the elevator.

"Oh." I say surprised. "This isn't your desk?"

"No." she laughs. "Christina works down here. We are up on the 20th floor." I follow her into the elevator that takes us up twenty floors and releases us into a modern, clean lobby. She turns to me as we exit the elevator.

"I'm not going to have a lot of time to train you, so I need you to pay close attention." she says. I nod and she leads me to the desk in front of the large, light wood double doors.

"This is where we work. You can keep your purse in here." she opens a drawer, places her bag inside and I do the same.

"I'll need you to sign this before we get started."

"What is it?" I ask.

"Its a non-disclosure agreement."

"Why?"

"Its standard for everyone in the company. You'll be dealing with a lot of confidential information."

I shrug and sign the document.

"Now, the first thing we do every morning is start a pot of coffee." She leads me down a short hallway, pointing out the bathrooms on the right, and into a small break room. She shows me how to work the coffee maker which is fancier than anything I've ever seen outside of a starbucks and shows me around the break room.

"There are snacks in here if you get hungry and we keep the fridge stocked with water bottles and juice. Don't touch the Perrier, or the lemon wedges. Those are for Mr. Grey only." she says and then leads me back into the foyer.

"Mr. Grey usually gets here sometime between 7AM and 9AM. You need to be here every morning by 6:45 at the latest to make sure there is coffee ready. We make a new pot of coffee every thirty minutes until he gets here so its fresh when and if he asks for some."

"You mean, he may not even want coffee? That seems wasteful."

"Oh don't worry." She laughs. "There are plenty of people around here willing to take it off your hands."

For the next hour she shows me around, shows me which keys open which drawers and shows me how to work the phone.

"This will be the majority of your job." She says. "Fielding phone calls. Mr. Grey is a very busy man and he gets a lot of phone calls. Very few of them actually get through. I have a tier system that seems to work very well. The bottom tier is clients, department heads, basically anyone not in his family. The only way the bottom tier gets to Mr. Grey is by appointment. No exceptions. If they don't have an appointment, you take a detailed message of their name, when they called, where they're calling from, what they're calling about and a number to reach them on. Then you type the message into an email and send it to him with the subject Phone Message from and whoever it is."

"Okay." I say, and she continues.

"The next "tier" are his parents and brother and sister. They get through automatically unless Mr. Grey is in a meeting or is not taking any phone calls. If you need to take a message, you'll type an email the same as everyone else. If he's not in a meeting, you'll page him over the intercom and ask him if he is available to take the call and who its from."

"And how will I know if its his family?" I ask.

"Oh, sorry. They'll tell you. Carrick, Grace, Elliot or Mia. I guess Kate now too. They know the drill so you don't have to worry about it too much. If they tell you its an emergency, you don't have to page Mr. Grey, just transfer it into his office."

"Okay, so family gets through, everyone else by appointment." I say.  
>"Not quite. The exception to all these rules is Mrs. Grey. If Mrs. Grey calls she gets through, no matter what. If he's in a meeting, you interrupt him. If he's on the phone, you walk into his office and tell him she's on the phone. If you can't find him, you politely put her on hold and you go and find him. Mrs. Grey always gets through."<p>

"Wow. His wife is pretty controlling, huh?" I giggle. Andrea doesn't look amused.  
>"Its not his wife." she says.<p>

"Oh."

The elevator door, pings and Andrea whirls around and stands. A man walks out of the elevator and my breath catches. He's the most gorgeous man I've ever seen in my life. All this time, I thought Andrea was describing someone old, in their 40s or 50s. This man probably isn't 30 yet and he looks like he just walked off a GQ photo shoot in his dark gray suit, white shirt and and black tie.

"Good-Morning, Mr. Grey." Andrea says brightly.

"Andrea." He says, shortly. I need you to get ahold of Roach and tell him to call you when he arrives. I want to know the moment Mrs. Grey gets here.

"Absolutely, sir. Can I get you anything?"

"Coffee." he replies in the same clipped tone. "What is this?" he gestures to me and I gulp under he hard, gray gaze.

"This is Rachel, sir. She's Jessica's replacement."

"Hm." He says, looking down at the mail he picked up out of the basket on the corner of Andrea's desk. "Meeting in 20."

He walks through the wooden double doors and disappears. I take a deep breath, realizing I had been holding my breath. Oh. My. God. My boss is gorgeous.

"You'll get over that." Andrea says, correctly guessing my expression. I blush.

"I don't know. You don't think he's attractive?" I ask.

"Oh he's attractive, but he's an asshole." she replies as she begins gathering up her things.

"What?" I gasp, shocked she would make such an open statement about our boss with him only just behind the door.  
>"Look." she says. "I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. Mr. Grey is a very difficult man to work for. He demands perfection and anything less is unacceptable. You're going to get yelled at. There are going to be days, when you cry in your car after you get off work. He's going to make you feel about an inch tall a lot of the time."<p>

I gulp. "Then why do you work for him?"

"Two years ago," she says. "There was a fire in my house and I lost everything. Three days later, my Dad died. I asked Mr. Grey if I could have the day of his funeral off and when he asked me why I didn't want more time off, I told him I couldn't afford to and told him about my house. He gave me the week off with pay, hired someone to arrange everything for my father and my family and paid for the entire funeral. When I returned to work, I had a message from a realtor asking me to make an appointment to look at houses. Mr. Grey gave an upfront down payment of $120,000. Not a loan, he just gave it to me. And when I found a house I liked that cost $275,000. He doubled my salary to help me pay my mortgage off in a year."

"What? Why would he do that?" I gape.  
>"He's an asshole. But he's also the most generous, good hearted man I've ever met. That's why I work for him."<p>

"Wow." I respond, blown away by her story.

"Keep that in mind later when he's screaming and cussing at you." She says. She disappears and returns with a cup of coffee and then picks up two folders and a notebook and turns to me again.  
>"Just a couple of things before we go in. Never, and I mean never, ask him a question. If he asks you a question, you have an answer, no exceptions. And don't stutter." She begins to walk towards the doors, but rounds on me again.<p>

"You might want to bring something to take notes."

Andrea doesn't knock before she goes in. Mr. Grey is sitting at his desk, staring at his computer.

"Your coffee, Mr. Grey." She says as she sets it down in front of him. She takes a seat across from his desk and I sit down next to her, trying to control my breathing as I stare at the man before me. He really is too damn good looking.

"Andrea, my wife is going to be here in a couple hours and she's not going to be happy." he begins. Oh shit, I almost forgot he was married. I feel myself begin to sulk.

"Make sure she has everything she needs when she gets here." he continues. "I'll have Taylor show her where to park but I'll need you to send some people downstairs to help her move her things inside. She still hasn't healed all the way and I don't want her lifting anything. She will object to this, but she is not to carry her things inside. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Grey." Andrea responds and makes a note on her notepad, I do the same.

They go over his schedule for the day and he tells her that he won't be taking any phone calls today. I think back to what Andrea told me about phone calls and I wonder if he ever takes them.

"Is that all Mr. Grey." Andrea asks, finally.

"I need you to go into the file room and make a copy of the Taiwan contract and send it down to the lawyers." He says. "Make sure it gets there before this afternoon."

"Yes, Mr. Grey." she says and she stands and leaves the office. I follow after her, intimidated by his tone and his stare.

The rest of the morning is fairly uneventful. I mostly just tell people Mr. Grey is unavailable and send him phone messages by email. Two scary looking men do go into Mr. Grey's office around 10:30 but they're the only people I see until around 11 when the elevator door opens and an angry looking brunette woman storms out.

Andrea jumps to her feet, an anxious look on her eyes. "Can I help you, Mrs. Grey?"

Oh, so this is his wife. She's beautiful, but I knew she would be. Jealousy rocks through me as I watch her stride across the lobby.

"Is he in there?" she shouts and Andrea tries to tell her he's in a meeting but she storms through the doors.

"Do we do anything?" I ask and she shakes her head. "I'm going to head to lunch. Do you think you can manage the phones for an hour?" She asks. I nod and she grabs her purse and heads to the elevator. A few moments later the two scary looking men that had been in a meeting with Mr. Grey exit the room and join Andrea as the elevator doors open. I'm alone, its nerve racking. No, I'm fine. I can do this.

A couple minutes pass and a woman in a powersuit exits the elevator and hands me a manilla envelope.

"These are the notes on the Taiwan contract Mr. Grey asked for." She says. "Make sure he gets them right away." I nod and take the envelope from her. When she disappears in the elevator, I push away from my desk and cross the room to the double doors.

Shit do I knock? Andrea didn't earlier. I remember what she told me about not asking questions. I was told to get these to him right away. I sigh, and ease open the door, and then freeze.

Mrs. Grey is laying naked across Mr. Grey's desk and his head is buried in between her legs.

"You taste so good, baby." I hear him say and it takes everything in me not to make a sound. I ease back out of the room, close the door as silently as possible and creep back to my desk. Fuck, I hope they didn't see me. Please say the didn't see me.

Another 10 minutes pass and a now fully dressed Mrs. Grey hurries out of the office and towards the elevator. She doesn't look at me and I wonder if she's embarrassed. I'm embarrassed, this is the most uncomfortable situation I think I've ever been in, at work at least. When she's gone, Mr. Grey comes out of his office and hands me his blackberry.  
>"This is dying." he says. "Charge it."<p>

"Yes sir." I say and look down and feel relief wash over me as I see a phone charger plugged in next to my computer monitor."

"Have you gotten your blackberry yet, miss…..?

"Carrington, Sir. And no, Andrea hasn't given me one yet."

"See that she does." He says. "Where is she?"

"Lunch, sir." I say and he nods.  
>"I'm going to be on a conference call for about an hour. I'll need you to order lunch for me and Mrs. Grey. Two Caesar salads, from that place on the corner."<p>

"Yes sir." I say and he goes back into his office.

I collapse in my chair. Whew, I survived my first solo encounter with Mr. Grey. His phone buzzes and I reach out to check what it is, it might be Mrs. Grey and Andrea said Mrs. Grey always gets through.

Its an email.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: First time for everything

Date: September 3rd 2012 Time: 11:27 AM  
>To: Christian Grey<p>

Mr. Grey, your oral presentation was most intriguing this morning. I do hope I shall be able to present one myself this evening.

xxx

Ana

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing.

I gulp as I read the email. I can't believe I walked in on that. Guiltily, I flip through the other emails from on the phone. There are hundreds. Does this man ever delete an email? Most of them are GEH domains or from Mrs. Grey. I scroll and scroll and scroll until I see a new name. Anastasia Steele? Oh Mrs. Grey before she was Mrs. Grey. Hmm… they haven't been married that long.

I see an email with the subject "Issues." I click on it and read:  
>From: Anastasia Steele<p>

Subject: Issues

Date: May 24 2011 00:02

To: Christian Grey

Dear Mr. Grey

Here is my list of issues. I look forward to discussing them more fully at dinner on Wednesday.

The numbers refer to clauses:

2: Not sure why this is solely for MY benefit - ie to explore MY sensuality and limits. I'm sure I wouldn't need a ten-page contract to do that! Surely this is for YOUR benefit.

4: As you are aware you are my only sexual partner. I don't take drugs, and I've not had any blood transfusions. I'm probably safe. What about you?

8: I can terminate at any time if I don't think you're sticking to the agreed limits. Okay - I like this.

9: Obey you in all thingsAccept without hesitation your disciplineWe need to talk about this.

11: One month trial period. Not three.

12: I cannot commit every weekend. I do have a life, or will have. Perhaps three out of four?

15.2: Using my body as you see fit sexually or otherwise - please define "or otherwise."

15.5: This whole discipline clause. I'm not sure I want to be whipped, flogged, or corporally punished. I am sure this would be in breach of clauses 2-5. And also "for any other reason". That's just mean - and you told me you weren't a sadist.

15.10: Like loaning me out to someone else would ever be an option. But I'm glad it's here in black and white.

15.14: The Rules. More on those later.

15.19: Touching myself without your permission. What's the problem with thisYou know I don't do it anyway.

15.21: Discipline - Please see clause 15.5 above.

15.22: I can't look into your eyesWhy?

15.24: Why can't I touch you?

Rules:

Sleep - I'll agree to 6 hours. Food - I am not eating food from a prescribed list. The food list goes or I do - Deal breaker. Clothes - as long as I only have to wear your clothes when I'm with you... okay. Exercise - We agreed 3 hours, this still says 4.

Soft Limits:

Can we go through all of theseNo Fisting of any kind. What is suspensionGenital Clamps - you have got to be kidding me.

Can you please let me know the arrangements for WednesdayI am working until 5pm that day.

Good night.

Ana

What the hell? What did I just open? My eyes flick around the room and I go into his sent folder and look for the one on the same date.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: This evening

Date: May 23 2011 23:16

To: Anastasia Steele

Miss Steele

I look forward to receiving your notes on the contract.

Until then, sleep well baby.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

Contract? What contract. The phone buzzes as another email comes it makes me jump. I exit out of the email program, losing my nerve and put the phone down. Its only been about 30 minutes since Andrea left and the phone hasn't been ringing. I call the deli on the corner and order two caesar salads and am now left with nothing to do.

I decide to make a personal folder in the computer so I can leave notes for myself about all the ridiculous things I need to remember and decided to see if there are is anything on the hard drive that would help me out. There are a ton of documents in here and I flip through them. There's the NDA I signed this morning. And then my eyes fall on a document called Contract. I click on it but it is password protected. I search around the desk and find a sticky note under the keyboard with a list of passwords on it. I see, Grace5011 (CG) and type it in the computer. The document opens and I"m immediately floored. Fuck, I want to read this, but I don't want to do it here. What if Grey comes out? I open the email program and send it to my personal email, deleting the sent document from Andrea's email.

As I do, the elevator pings and Andrea appears.

"Sorry." She says. "Did I miss anything?"

"No." I respond. "You're just in time. I need to run down to the corner and get the lunch I ordered for Mr. Grey." She eyes me suspiciously.

"What did you order?"

"Two caesar salads, one for Mr. and Mrs. Grey." I hope she doesn't notice my blush as I say Mrs. Grey's name.

"How did you order it?" I shrug and she walks to the phone, quickly dialing a number. "Is it under your name or his?"

"Mine." I say, confused.  
>"Hi, I need to cancel an order for Rachel Carrington. Yes I need a new order. Two Caesar Salads, but I want them deconstructed. Make sure the chicken is hot and the cheese and the dressing are on the side. Oh and we want the house butter and garlic croutons, not the seasoned ones. We'll also take two of the grilled flat bread, but with olive oil instead of butter. Put the order under Rachel, she'll be there in seven minutes to pick it up. Yes I understand, the order is for Christian Grey. Yes, thank you."<p>

She hangs up the phone and shoos me out of the office. 15 minutes later I'm back with the food. Andrea takes the salad out of the plastic container and puts it together on a plate. She hands it to me and tells me to take it to Mr. Grey.

"Do I knock?" I ask, remembering the last time I went into his office. She nods and I mentally kick myself.

"What?" He shouts after I tap on the door and I hurry in. I set the food on my desk and he looks up at me.  
>"Has my wife eaten?" He asks.<p>

"I'll take hers down to her right now, Sir." He nods his head, a dismissal and I hurry out of the office.

Andrea doesn't put nearly as much effort into Mrs. Grey's lunch. She hands me the plastic container and tells me to go to the 19th floor. Her office is easy to find and when I knock on her door, her response is sweet.

"Come in." she says.

"Mrs. Grey? I've brought you some lunch." I say. She rolls her eyes and motiones me forward.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met."

"No ma'am. Today is my first day. My name is Rachel. Rachel Carrington."

"Hello, Rachel. Please don't call me ma'am. Call me Ana."

"Sorry, Ana." I say and she smiles.

"Don't let him get to you," she says with a wink. "I know it must be very stressful up there for it being your first day."

Crap. I like her.

"Yes, Mrs…. Ana."

She laughs again. "Why don't you give your number to my PA outside the door, Hannah. Its probably a good idea for you two to be in touch. I'd like to have my calendar sync'd with Mr. Grey's."

"Right away, Ma'am… I mean Ana." I blush and hurry out of her office, giving my information to Hannah, who also seems really nice. Damn, why didn't I get put into this office?

The rest of the afternoon drags on and Mr. Grey doesn't reappear until he leaves. I spend the rest of the afternoon anxious to get home so I can read the email sitting in my mailbox but Grey doesn't leave until after 6. When he does, Andrea tells me I can go and I thank her for her help and practically run out the door.


	16. Chapter 16

**CPOV**

After a long week of work and waiting, the weekend has arrived and Anastasia and I are taking Teddy over to my parents house for a barbecue this afternoon. That is if she ever leaves her office.

"Anastasia, we're going to be late." I call and a few moments later she walks out into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I've got a mountain of work. You wouldn't believe how many manuscripts get sent into my office in a two week period. I might have to go into the office later tonight so I can get some work done. Everything takes me too long here, what with Teddy and my husband distracting me with his sexpertice."

"It's a Saturday. Manuscript reading can wait until Monday, when you're supposed to be in the office."

She smiles at me coyly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Grey, but my boss's boss's boss is a real slave driver."

"He's probably trying to get you in the office after hours so he can get into you panties." I say as she winds her arms around my waist.

"Oh, I hope so, Mr. Grey. He's a very attractive man."

I bend down and kiss her, feeling my body begin to crave more as her fingers comb through my hair.

"Anastasia," I say. "If you continue to do that, I'm going to want to fuck you and we'll miss my parents' barbecue."

She sighs and pulls away. "I'm going to take a shower. I'll be ready in twenty minutes, I promise."

I finish making the bottle I've started and Teddy has almost completely finished it by the time Anastasia gets back downstairs.

"Ok, I'm ready." She says. "Oh shit, do you have the contract from the designer that we wanted your dad to look over?"

"It's in my desk." I say, nodding towards my office. She disappears down the hallway and I finish feeding Teddy while she looks for the document. I dump the bottle into the sink and look down the hall after her. What's taking so long, it's in the top drawer, clearly labeled.

"Ana?" I call and walk out of the kitchen towards my office. She's standing over the desk, looking at something like she's horrified.

"What is it, baby?" I ask and I freeze as I realize what it is she's holding.

"What the fuck is this?" she asks, holding Elena's phone up for me to see.

"Anastasia…" I hesitate. What do I say? Fuck, what do I say?

"Don't lie to me, Christian. I already looked through it. I know who's fucking phone this is."

"Ana, you have to believe me. She came here, I didn't ask for her to come. She just showed up."

"Really Christian? Because I opened her email and there is one here from you that says, '9am. Escala.'"

I gulp. Fuck. This is it, I'm going to have to tell her. God damn it, why didn't I take the phone to GEH? She's there too, Grey.

"So you fucked her in our apartment while I was being held hostage? While I was being beaten you were beating her in your playroom, is that it you sick son of a bitch?" She screams at me.

"Ana, no. Jesus, no."

She hurls the phone at me and shift so that it hits me in the shoulder instead of hitting Teddy.

"Fuck Ana, I've got the baby. Will you calm down?" She looks down and her eyes widen with panic as she sees Teddy. Shit, is she that mad at me that she didn't even notice? She starts towards me and at first I think she's going to hit me but she storms past me, leaving me in the wake of her anger.

"Anastasia!" I yell after her but she doesn't stop. I follow her up to our bedroom but she slams the door in my face. I hear the sound of the lock drop and I bang on the door.  
>"Anastasia, open the fucking door!" I scream. She doesn't answer. "God damn it, Ana. I'll wait here all day, open the fucking door."<p>

I stand there for five minutes but she doesn't open it. I turn around, taking Teddy to his crib in the nursery and then head down the stairs. If she doesn't want to open the door, I'll open it for her. There's a key in the utility room. I get to the room across the hall from Ana's office and throw open the metal box where Mrs. Jones keeps spare keys. It takes me a few minutes to find the right key and when I do, I storm back across the house and up to the bedroom. The door is open.

"Anastasia?" I call, but I don't see her in the bedroom. Where did she go? Suddenly, I hear the garage door opening. Fuck. I run out of the room and look through the windows that overlook the driveway. Ana's car is pulling out. No, Anastasia!

I reach in my pocket for my blackberry to call her but I realize I left it on my desk. I move quickly to my office and retrieve the blackberry and dial her number.

"What?" She snaps.

"Anastasia, please come back. Lets talk about this."

"Tell me what you did, Christian."

"I didn't do anything, Ana. I swear to you. Nothing happened."

"So you just met up with her and what? Had breakfast alone in our apartment?" she asks sarcastically. "I know that's not what fucking happened, Christian and even if it did. I'd still be fucking pissed."

"Ana, please come home."

"Tell me what you did!" she yells.

"Ana, I didn't know what to do. I was crazy with worry and I wasn't thinking straight. I was out of control, everything was out of control. I didn't know where you were and I knew you were hurt and everything I was doing to try and find you was failing..."

"Did you fuck her?" she asks, her voice low and cold.

"No." I say. "No, god no, Anastasia. I swear to you, I didn't touch her."

"Then what happened?"

"She..." I take a deep breath to steady myself. "She brought a submissive to the apartment."

Ana is silent on the other end of the phone. I hold my breath, waiting.

"You son of a bitch." She says so deadly quiet I feel as though my blood freezes.

"Ana, I swear to you. I didn't do it. She got to me. She told me it would feel good and I just wanted something, anything, to take the pain away. When I got there, my senses came to me and I kicked them both out of the apartment. I swear Anastasia, I swear, on everything, I didn't do it."

"I spent days, Christian. Fucking days being tortured and you're telling me you couldn't handle the pain? Someone kidnaps me and you run off to that fucking bitch, have her bring you some poor little girl that you can beat and fuck? Ana's gone so maybe I can get my kicks in while I can, is that it?"

"No, Anastasia. I swear, I didn't touch her…." My voice cuts off as I hear the sound of Teddy crying in the background.  
>"You took my son?" I yell.<p>

"I took my son, Christian. I don't want him anywhere near you."

My anger builds to a threatening level. "Anastasia." I say coldly, trying to keep my voice even. "Turn around and come home now."

"No." She says. "I'm not coming home, Christian. I can't even stand the thought of being around you right now."

"God damn it Anastasia bring my son back here, now!" I yell.

"Good-bye, Christian."

"Anasta-!" But my voice stops as I hear her hang up the phone. Fuck! I call back, again and again, but she doesn't answer. I dial a new number and Sawyer answers on the second ring.

"Are you on her?" I demand.

"Yes, sir." He says. "She's driving up the I-5 now."

"Don't let her out of your sight. I want to know where she goes."

"Yes, sir."

**APOV**

I'm so furious right now I can't even see straight. How could he do this to me? Can I even believe him? I can see Sawyer in my rear view mirror and I contemplate trying to lose him, but I don't want to get into evasive driving with Teddy in the car. Christian is going to know where I am, no matter where I go.

20 minutes later I pull up outside of Kate's place, praying they haven't left for Grace and Carrick's yet. I take Teddy's car seat out of the back seat and storm across her yard. I ring the doorbell and luckily, Kate is the one who opens the door.

"Ana?" She asks. She looks down at Teddy and sees the the duffle bag thrown over my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Kate!" I wail as I dissolve into tears.

"Fuck, Ana!" She says, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me in through the door. She leads me into the living room where Elliot is sitting, watching a college football game.

"Ana?" He asks, but I look away from him.  
>"What's wrong?" Kate asks again and I shoot a pointed glare at Elliot.<p>

"Elliot, can we have a few moments?"

He nods and gets up to leave the room. I collapse on the couch and sob uncontrollably, feeling like my whole world is collapsing in on itself.

"Talk to me, Ana."

"When I was gone, when that psycho kidnapped me. Christian saw that bitch Elena Lincoln." I sob. Kate looks at me sympathetically.

"Ana, its not what you think. She just showed up out of no where. Mia was the one who let her in and she practically forced her way into Christian's office. He tried to kick her out but the fucker who took you called Christian on her phone so he had to keep the phone to give to Welch. I was there for the whole thing. He didn't do anything wrong."

I glare at her. "Did you know about the part where she got him a submissive and he went to the apartment to meet her?"

"What?" Kate gasps. "No, Ana. Oh my god! When?"

I shake my head. "I don't know. Before they found me."

"Did he...?" she whispers. I shrug.

"He says he didn't, but I can't imagine that he went over there to meet them and didn't fuck her."

"Oh god, Ana." She says sympathetically, reaching out to rub my back. I hear her phone ring from the kitchen and I know its going to be Christian.

"Just a second." She tells me and she gets up to get the phone.

"What the fuck do you want?" she snaps a moment later. "Yes, she is. No you can't fucking talk to her. No, I'm not going to give her the phone. Don't you yell at me Christian Grey, I have half a mind to drive over there and beat the ever living shit out of you. Or you'll what? Fuck you, Christian." I hear the phone slam down on the counter and then immediately start ringing again. She turns it off and comes back into the living room, wrapping her arms around me.

"What do you want to do?" She asks after a minute.

"I don't know." I say. "I…" but I don't know how to finish that sentence.

"Um, Kate?" Elliot's voice comes from the stairs. "Christian is on the phone for Ana."

"Tell him to fuck off." She yells. He comes around the corner, holding his cell phone in his hand.

"He seems like he really needs to talk to her." he says.

"I'm sure he feels that way, but he can just deal with the fact that he's a cheating piece of shit and Ana wants nothing to do with him!" Kate yells.

"What?" Elliot says, looking from me to Kate.

"Give me the damn phone, Elliot." Kate demands and he gives it to her. "Christian, you can call everyone in the family, call everyone in the whole damn city of Seattle for all I care, you're not going to talk to her. You think after what you did you… Yeah, like we're really going to believe... No, Christian. I'm not going to give her the phone." She hangs up and hands it back to Elliot.

"He's going to come over here." Elliot tells her, putting the phone in his pocket. She gets off the couch and walks with purpose to the garage and a few moments later, she returns with a baseball bat in her hands.

"Let him come." She says, radiating anger.

Elliot's prediction turns out to be right. I run up the stairs with Teddy and lock myself in her room.

"Get the fuck out of here!" I hear Kate yell from downstairs.  
>"Where is she Kavanagh? I'm not fucking around."<p>

"She's not here." Kate says.

"I can see her fucking car outside, Kate. Where the fuck is my wife?"

"Oh, so you do remember you're married? Do I need to go over your vows with you Christian, you cheating son of a bitch?"

"I didn't cheat on her!" He yells. "This is none of your fucking business, Kate. Where is she?"

"Get the fuck out of my house, Christian."

"Anastasia!" I hear him yell. "Get your ass down here and bring me my son."

"Teddy is just fine here." Kate says again. "And so is Ana. She doesn't want to see you."

"Ana, please come talk to me. Please, I just want to talk. I want to see my son. Ana!" He cries again, and I can hear desperation in his voice.

"Christian, if you don't leave right now. I'm going to call the cops." Kate threatens.

"Kate." he moans. "Please. This is all, this is all so fucked up. I didn't. I didn't touch her, I swear. I went, yes and I've felt like shit about it for fucking weeks. I'm disgusted with myself, but I didn't betray her. I was crazy, crazy with worry and fear and I didn't know what I was doing until I was already there. I sent them away. I kicked them both out of my apartment and that was it. I swear to god, I didn't touch her.

"You need to leave, Christian." Kate's hisses. "If she wants to talk to you, she'll call."

"Come on, bro. I'll go home with you." Elliot suggests and I hear footsteps and the front door closes.

There is a soft knock on the bedroom door. "Ana, he's gone. Can I come in?"

I open the door and she slumps down on the floor next to me.

"Can I stay here for a while?" I ask. Kate smiles.

"You can stay here as long as you want."

"Thanks, Kate."

Christian doesn't leave. When we get downstairs I can see his car outside on the curb, waiting for me to come out. I feel trapped. I don't want to see him. I don't want to talk to him. I'm not ready for that yet. Kate makes me some tea and I sit down at the dining room table with her. We talk for hours, cry together for hours. It's 3 o'clock in the morning before we hear his car pull away.

"Do you believe him?" I ask. "Do you believe that he didn't cheat on me?"

"I don't know, but even if he didn't fuck her that doesn't mean he didn't betray your trust. That's why you feel the way you feel. If you trusted him, you wouldn't question whether or not he was telling the truth.

"I need to know. If I'm going to be able to talk to him, I need to know if he's telling the truth first."

"Well, how are you going to be able to tell if he's lying or not?"

I look up at her. "I'm going to have to talk to Elena."


	17. Chapter 17

**Kate POV**

"If I'm going to get to Elena, I'm going to need to shake my security." Ana says.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I frown. I'm absolutely furious with Christian right now, I could literally kill him, but he's not wrong about having security with her at all times. The last time Ana didn't have security with her…

"It's the only way. If my security detail follows me, they'll call Christian and he'll make them stop me."

I nod. "What can I do?"

"Can you distract them? Maybe, if they think you're me…"

I smile. "I can get in your car and drive away. They'll follow me and you can take my car."

She nods.

"Devious Mrs. Grey."

"We're going to have to make you a convincing me, though." She says. I jump up and cross the room to my closet, pulling out my Halloween costume from last year.

"Last year for Halloween, I was Angelina Jolie and Elliot went as Brad Pitt." I pull out a brown wig and fix it over my blonde hair. "Switch clothes with me."

"What?" She asks.

"Ana, I assume they saw what you were wearing. Switch clothes with me."

She begins to strip and I do the same. When I'm dressed in her clothes, I throw on a pair of sunglasses and hold my arms out so she can examine me.

"Well? What do you think? Am I Ana enough?"

"Maybe from a distance." She says. "But they'll be looking at you from down the street. Take Teddy with you, that'll be what they look for most likely."

"Where do you want me to take him? To Grace and Carrick?"

"No, they'll wonder why you're driving him around in a wig and probably call Christian, thinking you're a lunatic. Take him back to my house. Tell him I'll give him an hour with Teddy. That may distract him enough to give me the time to talk to Elena."

"Sure, send me over there. Do you realize how pissed he's going to be when I get out of your car and he realizes it's not you? This is a guy who knows how to wield a whip Ana."

She winces and I blanch. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll be fine." I reach down and wrap Teddy in the blanket he's lying on and carry him down to his car seat.

"Good-luck, Mrs. Grey" I say and she hugs me.

"Thank-you for doing this, Kate."

I hug her back and walk out the front door. I can see the black SUV parked down the street. Good, I'm far enough away they won't be able to tell it's me and not Ana. After I secure Teddy's car seat in the back seat, I shuffle around to the driver's and slide in.

"Success!" I think as I pull out of the drive way and the SUV starts down the street. I make it to the corner before I hear a phone ring over the speakers of the car. Ana has left her phone in here and Christian is calling her. The security detail must have told them I left the house. How annoying. Is this what she deals with every day? How does she do it?

I ignore the call and drive through the winding streets of my neighborhood until I'm on the road that will take me up the I-5. Christian calls me probably 4 times before I finally just turn off the phone. Ana's house is 35 minutes from mine and I spend the entire drive worrying about what's going to happen when I get to her house. I put on a brave face for Ana back home, but I really am worried about how Christian is going to react. I'm kind of scared of him, especially after what Ana told me last summer before her wedding.

I punch in the code to the gate and make my way up the driveway. I haven't even parked the car before I see Christian running out of the house, followed by Elliot. Oh thank-god, Elliot is here. I'd forgotten about that. Well, I feel a little better about this now.

"Ana!" Christian calls, relieved as I step out of the car, but as he approaches he stops. "What the fuck?"

"Hello, Christian." I say, taking off my sunglasses and walking to the back of the car for the baby.

"Kate?" He asks and I can hear the fury building in his voice. "What the fuck… Where is Ana?"

"She's back at home, Christian. She told me to bring Teddy over here for an hour so you could spend some time with him."

"Why are you dressed like that?" He says and I see him glare at the security detail parked behind me. Shit, I should have known he was going to ask this question. Why didn't I think of what I was going to say? Quick on your feet Kavanagh… oh!

"She wanted security to follow me Christian. I had Teddy in the car with me." I say. His brow furrows but he nods, moving forward to take Teddy's car seat out of my hands.

"You can leave now, Kate." He says and he turns to walk back towards the house.

"Christian, she told me I could leave him here for an hour!" I yell after him. He turns on me and I cower slightly under her fierce gaze.

"I won't let you take my son away from me, Katherine." He spits at me. Stay strong, you're doing this for Ana, I tell myself.

"But you'll take him away from his mother?" I snap back. "Do you really think that's what's best for Teddy, Christian?"

His face lights up with fury and it's as if I can him battling his own thoughts in his mind. The fury begins to melt away and I feel a twinge of guilt as I see the heartbreak that replaces it.

"No." He says at last. "I won't separate him from Ana. You might as well come in and get something to eat Kate, it's nearly lunchtime."

I nod and follow after him. It feels weird being in the house without Ana here. Like she's missing all over again. I don't like it. It feels so empty. Not warm at all. Christian walks past the staircase and into the living room where he sits on the couch and pulls Teddy out of the car seat. I have to remind myself how pissed I am at him to keep from crying as I see the tortured look of anguish on his face as he looks down into Teddy's eyes.

"Can I get you anything, Mrs. Grey?" I hear Mrs. Jones ask behind me. I shake my head and go to sit on the couch next to Christian. He doesn't look up at me.

"Tell me, Christian. I need to know what happened." I say softly. He looks up at Elliot and I know he can't say what he did if Elliot is in the room. Elliot doesn't know about his past.

"Elliot, can you give us some privacy for a little bit?" I ask and he gapes at me.

"Jeez, you're kicking me out again. I swear this family…" he groans as he stomps out of the room, no doubt to the game room and Christian's xbox.

"What happened?" I ask again.

"Kate, I swear to you, I didn't cheat on her." He says.

"But you went." I protest and his face crinkles with pain.

"I didn't want to. You and Mia and My mother and Teddy. You all left. Carrick, Elliot and Ethan were asleep. I didn't want to sleep. I hadn't slept in days. I was half crazy. The pain was unbearable and once I didn't have Teddy anymore, I felt like I lost my only connection to Anastasia. I didn't think I was going to get her back. I was drinking, drinking a lot, and she told me it would feel good."

"Who told you…"

"Elena. She told me that it would make the pain stop and that morning, I was drunk enough to believe her. I didn't go there to have sex with a submissive Kate. I went there to beat the ever living shit out of someone. I needed to get rid of the pain I felt and the only way I've been able to do that in the past is by inflicting the pain on my submissives. I wanted to feel in control of something and I'm never more in control than in my playroom. Even if I had done it, I wouldn't have fucked her. I just would have hit her. But when I got there… When I saw that girl sitting there… All I could think about was Ana and it made me sick. I couldn't even be in the room anymore. So I kicked them out and I destroyed my apartment. I just needed to get rid of the pain, Kate. I swear I didn't touch her."

"I can't be on your side, Christian. Look, I think I understand. I know how I felt when she was missing so I can't even fathom the amount of pain you were in… but you shouldn't have gone. It's a betrayal, Christian. And she's hurt. She's really hurt. How is she going to trust you?"

He shakes his head. His eyes are closed tightly with pain and his lips form a thin white line. We sit in silence as he rocks Teddy back in forth. Eventually, Elliot slowly saunters back into the living room, unsure if he should be there or not but I nod at him to let him know it's okay. When the hour is up, I shift uncomfortably and Christian nods. He holds out the baby for me and I feel like it's going to break my heart to take him.

I place him back in the car seat and kiss Elliot.

"I think I'm going to stay here for a while." Elliot tells me. "I'm not sure what he's going to do…"

I nod and hug him, thankful I'm married to such a wonderful man.

"Goodbye, Christian." I say sadly and begin to walk from the room.

"Wait!" he calls after me and I turn to see him leap off the couch.

"Just wait." He tells me again and he bounds past me and up the stairs. I stand in the foyer for a few moments and he comes down with two bags.

"There are some clothes, some extra bottles and diapers in there. And his favorite blanket." He says handing me the first bag. "I packed some more clothes for her and her toothbrush is in there."

I take the second bag from him.

"Thank-you, Christian." I say and he nods.

"If she needs anything, anything at all, let me know."

I reach out to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder but freeze as I hear the front door burst open. I turn and see Ana standing in the doorway.


	18. Chapter 18

**APOV**

I watch Kate pull away through the living room window and once I see my security detail following after her, I run for Kate's purse and find my goal: her car keys.

When I slide into the car, I ease out of the garage and down the street. I only have one shot at this. Kate is only giving me an hour of time. I remember the distant memory of Christian telling me that Mrs. Robinson is usually based at the Bravern Shopping center in Bellevue. I want to pull out my phone a google an address, but I've left it in my car, which is good I suppose. Christian won't be able to track me once he finds out that its Kate taking Teddy to the house. There's a button on the steering wheel that has a picture of a mouth with three lines coming out of it. I press it and here a musical ping and a robotic voice says "Say a command"

"Er…. Directions?" I ask hesitantly

"Okay, Directions. Where would you like to go?" the voice asks again.

"Bravern Shopping Center, Bellevue Washington." I say and there is another musical ping. I look down and see a GPS map pop up on the small screen set into the consul.

"Location acquired" the voice tells me. "To start navigation, say start navigation."

"Start navigation." I say and I'm given directions to my location. Very convenient, Kate.

Kate and Elliot live in Bellevue, not too far from Grace and Carrick, so I'm at the shopping center in less than 10 minutes. I park the car on the curb in front of a building with a modern looking sign that reads Esclava. I have to take a deep breath to brace myself for what I'm about to do but I need answers. The only way I'll know if Christian is telling the truth, is if I hear the same story from Elena. She's more likely to lie and tell me Christian did cheat on me than cover for him. At least, I hope so.

I walk through the doors of the salon and am greeted by a pretty blonde receptionist.

"Good Afternoon. Do you have an appointment?" She asks brightly.

"Not exactly." I reply. "I'm here to see Mrs. Lincoln."

The receptionist frowns but she picks up her receiver and dials an extension number. Oh good, she's here.

"Mrs. Lincoln, you have a visitor." The receptionist says she turns to me and asks for my name. Oh no. Do I tell her my real name? Will she come out if I do? She's wanted to meet with me before… Well, Mrs. Robinson, here I am.

"Anastasia Grey." I say and the receptionist says my name into the phone. She hangs up the phone and looks up at me.

"Mrs. Lincoln will be right out."

"Thank you." I say and hear a door open at the back of the empty salon. I turn and see her, her perfect blond hair rolled up in an elegant chignon, her make up flawlessly done. She's dressed in her usual head to toe black. She smiles at me and motions me towards her. I march forward with determination.

"Have a seat, Ana." She purrs as she closes her office door behind me. "What can I do for you, dear?" The fake pleasantry in her voice ignites a fire in me and I glare at her.

"Did you fuck my husband?" I blurt out and her eyes narrow.

"Several times." She says flatly. "Over a period of many happy years, Anastasia."

"I know about the past, Elena. I'm asking about when I was… away. Did you fuck my husband while I was missing?"

"No." Her eyes are cold and impassive. I'm reminded of Christian.

"Did you bring a submissive to my apartment for him to fuck?" I continue and she smiles a wolfish smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"He told you." she says.

"Is it true?"

"Yes, Anastasia. I delivered a girl I thought would be suitable to Escala while you were missing."

"And he fucked her right? He took her into the playroom and he fucked her?"

She presses her glossy lips together before she answers. "Why are you asking me? I'm sure Christian has told you exactly what happened."

"Because he went to meet you, so he's already lost my trust."

"And you trust me?"

"No." I say simply, though I keep my voice firm and resolute. "But I know you'll be dying to tell me that he cheated on me. You want the win Elena. Convincing him to cheat on me will be the win. You think that if you could convince him to fuck a submissive, you could convince him to fuck you. You tried last year and he turned you down, so if I'm out of the picture what's to stop him for moving on to you?"

Her wicked smile returns. "So why would you trust me to tell you the truth. If that's what you think, if Christian is what I'm really after, wouldn't it make more sense for me to lie to you and tell you he cheated?"

"No, because if you do that, he'll never forgive you and you'll lose."

"But what if its true. What if he did cheat on you and I tell you. What's to stop him from hating me then, from rejecting me then?"

"Because if he's really guilty, if he really did cheat on me and I leave him for it. There are any number of ways I could have found out. He always thinks the worst of himself. If I leave him and he's guilty, he'll just assume I saw through him to the liar he really is and left. But if he's innocent and he knows I've been to see you, he'll know you told me."

"That's quite the logical gymnastics you've worked your way through, Anastasia."

"I just want to know the truth."

"We all have things we want to know... But then again, maybe there are things we think we want to know but in reality, we don't."

"So your telling me he did it then? You're not denying it."

She stares back at me with un-moving eyes.

"This is the part where you speak." I remind her

Elena crosses her arms and leaves over the desk, her cleavage is protruding out at me.  
>"Anastasia…" she begins, but I don't want her run-around. I just want answers.<p>

"Did he, or didn't he Elena?" I snap. Her gaze darkens.  
>"Look here you little tramp. Don't come into my office and make demands of me. You've ruined him. The strong, powerful man I created is now a weak, spineless boy who controls nothing. I brought him a submissive because its what he needed. He needs someone to satisfy his needs so that he can control his universe. No, he didn't fuck her, because you're in his head, making him ashamed of what he needs. I told Linc if he'd just kept you longer, he would have taken the submissive but he didn't listen to me. People who don't listen to me, ruin themselves. Just like Christian."<p>

"What did you just say?" I asked, so shocked I wonder if I heard her correctly.

"I'm telling you no, Anastasia. Your weak husband didn't fuck the girl I hand delivered to him."

"No… you told Linc. It was Linc. Your ex-husband. He kidnapped me. He was the one holding me hostage…"

Her eyes widen as she realizes what she's given away. I stand quickly and bolt for the door but her long fingers clasp around my arm.  
>"Let me go!" I yell, but she doesn't release me.<br>"Ana!" She yells as she tries to subdue my struggles. I feel a harsh yank and I'm forced across the room, slamming into her desk. She turns on me but before she can get her arms on me I punch her, closed fist punch her, straight in the face. She doubles back, cursing with pain but I don't give her time to recover. I push past her and run through the salon towards Kate's car.

When I'm inside I lock all of the doors, turn on the car and floor it. I look in my rear view mirror and see Elena standing on the curb, her nose bloody, glaring after me. I need to get home, now. For the first time, I wish I hadn't shaken off my security. I know these people are capable of crazy things and now every stop sign, every red light, every traffic jam is a terrifying trap.

I fly across the Lake Washington, remembering the last time I was chased over this bridge. Christian had been with me then, and security wasn't far behind. I'm alone now. All alone. Calm down, Ana. I tell myself. I don't know that I'm being followed.

When I pull onto my street I feel a little better. I sit in front of the gate, looking around quickly before I roll my window down to punch in the code. When the gate opens in front of me, I speed down the driveway towards my house. Sawyer and Taylor both rush out to me as I jump out of the car.  
>"Mrs. Grey!" Taylor yells, but I ignore him and run as fast as I can to the front door. When I reach the top of the steps, I throw open the front door and see Kate, Christian and Elliot grouped together in the foyer.<p>

"Ana?" Christian asks, a plea, as if he doesn't really believe I'm here.  
>"Christian." I respond, determined. "Christian, you were right. It <em>was<em> Linc. Linc was the one who kidnapped me."


	19. Chapter 19

**CPOV **

"Ana?" I ask, unsure if she's really standing in front of me.

"Christian, did you hear what I said? You were right. You were always right, it was Linc." I hand Teddy to Kate and cross the foyer in two steps, wrapping my arms around her and inhaling the intoxicating scent of her hair.  
>"Oh, Ana." I moan, feeling the loss melt away with her in my arms. She pushes back slightly to look up at me and I lean down to kiss her.<p>

"Christian!" She shouts. Her hands presses against my chest and she shoves me away.

"Ana." I say again, her rejection washing over me. "Its not Linc. Everything checks out. We have the guy. Ryan is out finding him now, bringing him to me."

"But Elena…" she says confused. My head snaps up at the name and I feel the familiar sense of anger starting to burn in my chest.

"Elena?" I snap. "When did you speak with Elena?"

She flushes and I know she doesn't want to tell me.

"Ana?" the anger is slipping into my voice.

"I've just been to see her Christian. She said that she told Linc to keep me longer. That if he had, you would have fu…." her voice breaks and her eyes shoot to Elliot, but I don't need to hear the rest of her sentence to know what she was going to say. I round on Kate.

"You told me she was at your house!" I snarl.

"Christian, did you hear what she just told you. Elena admitted that it was Lincoln behind the kidnapping."

I growl and grab Ana by the wrist, dragging her towards my study. Kate and Elliot follow in my wake. When I round my desk, I throw open the top left drawer and pull out a manila folder that is labeled: Joseph Walker.

"Joseph Walker." I begin. "Former US Marine, dishonorably discharged. Became a detective for Seattle Police but was fired there too for disorderly conduct. Financial records show a flight to Sydney on July 7th but no return flight, there is however a liquor store charge on his credit card in Seattle for July 9th. And a week ago, he received a transfer of $5 million in his personal bank account that until that day had never had more than $3,000 dollars in it."

"But you gave him $25 million?" Anastasia protests.

"He's not likely to transfer the entire sum at once, Anastasia."

"Buy why would Elena say..?"

"Because she's a liar, Ana. And a manipulator. She's playing a game with us."

Anastasia nods her head as my blackberry rings. I look at the number and answer it.

"Ryan!" I snap.

"I have him, Sir. Pier 66 just like you requested."

"Good, I'll be there within half an hour." I tell him and hang up the phone. I look down at Anastasia with pained eyes. If I leave, will she be gone when I get back? I don't know if she's still mad at me, or if she believes me or not.

"Ana, will you… will you wait for me?"

"Where are you going?" She asks.

"Ryan has him. He's waiting for me."

"I want to go, too."

"No!" I say, horrified. "Ana, I don't want you anywhere near him! And I… I don't want you to be apart of this."

"What are you going to do to him, Christian?" She asks, and I can hear fear in her voice.  
>"I'm going to do what is necessary." I tell her simply, the only thing I can tell her.<p>

"Christian!" She pleads.

"Just wait. Please? Wait for me to get back."

She stares back at me imploringly but after a few moments she nods her head. I want to lean down and kiss her but she hasn't given me any indication she wants me to do that. I return her nod and walk out the door, leaving the three of them staring after me with worry. Taylor is in the hallway waiting for me when I emerge from the study.

"Has Ryan called you?" I ask him.

"Yes, sir." He responds.

"Then you know where we're going."

He nods and opens the front door for me.

We fly down the highway and I'm flooded with an unwelcome sense of deja-vu as we pull up to the curb in front of pier 66. We can see Ryan and Sawyer's car. Sawyer is standing outside the passenger door keeping watch on the deserted sidewalk. He nods at me as I approach the pier.

The memories of that nightmare flood over me as I walk up the dock and to the fish warehouse. She's not in there, Grey. Get a fucking grip.

Taylor opens the door and I walk into the dark room. He's sitting, tied to the same chair I pulled Ana off of in the middle of the room, flooded by the light of a single hanging lamp.

"Who are you?" he demands and I recognize the voice immediately. Its been haunting me for weeks. The cold, harsh voice of my mysterious phone calls. My muscles tense with fury as I approach him. He squints through the darkness, struggling against the ropes that bind him and I smile with satisfaction.  
>"Oh, you know who it is." I tell him.<p>

"Grey?" He asks, panic flooding into his voice now. The panic drives me on in a sadistic way, allowing me to push aside my own humanity and do what needs to be done here. I'm going to avenge Anastasia.

"You said you were an interesting person to talk to." I sneer. "I've missed our conversations."

Taylor approaches him from the side and punches him across the left cheek, he yells and spits across the floor.

"This is my security team. They've been looking for you for some time."

"Look, it was a job alright? I was in some bad shit and I was promised it would all go away if I took your wife. I didn't want to hurt her."

Ryan hits him this time, from the opposite side so he's taken by surprise. I stand in front of him, glaring malevolently down at him.

"Job?" I ask. "Were you working for Andrew Lincoln?"

"I don't know, I was hired by some woman named Elena and she never told me the guy's name, the guy who wanted the job done. Lincoln though, yeah. Her last name. Her name was Elena Lincoln."

Taylor hits him again and even through the darkness I can see the satisfaction it gets him. The pathetic excuse for a human in front of me groans with pain.  
>"Look man," He pleads. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice. I needed the money or I'd be on the bottom of the sound now. I didn't even know you, or your wife."<p>

"So you think because it wasn't personal everything is just okay?" I sneer and he cringes from Ryan's side so Taylor hits him again, and he curses as the blow knocks a tooth across the floor.  
>"Unfortunately, this wasn't your way out, Mr. Walker. You should have done your research a little better because if you had, you would have known that if those other people didn't get to you, I would."<br>"Please." He begs. "Please, I'll do anything." I raise my arm back and with all my might thrust my fist square into his face. I feel a sharp pain in my knuckles and have to shake them out when I pull my arm back I see a satisfying stream of blood pour from his already broken mouth and I don't care about the pain.  
>"I don't want anything from you, you son of a bitch." I spit down at him. I turn to leave but stop and look at Taylor.<p>

"Tell me, what were the injuries we found Mrs. Grey with?" I ask.

"Three broken ribs, a bleeding kidney, a ruptured spleen and a fractured ankle, sir."

I give him a purposeful nod. "Return the favor. Lets see how long it takes someone to find him."

I exit the room to the sound of his screams. I walk up to Sawyer and he opens the passenger door for me.

"Do you need something for your hand, sir?" He asks as we drive down the road towards my house. I shake my head. I want the reminder of my revenge.

I'm relieved to see both Ana and Kate's car still in the driveway when I get home. Good, she's still here. I open the front door and barely make it through the foyer before Ana comes around the corner.

"What happened?" She asks and she looks down to my hand. "Jesus, Christian!" She shouts and she disappears back down the hall towards the kitchen. I walk after her, seeing Kate and Elliot on the couch in the living room, Teddy in Kate's arms.

Ana returns with ice that she's wrapped in a towel. Gently, she pushes it against my knuckles and it hurts but I don't wince, I stare into her face. Her beautiful face.

"You were right," I tell her. "It was Linc."

"You should call the police, Christian." She says, looking up into my eyes.

"I'll take care of it." I tell her and I brush my non-injured hand against her hair. Her eyes close and she pushes her head into my hand. I feel the joy of her acceptance. She still wants me. She's probably still mad at me, and I know she should be, but she still wants me. She still loves me. As long as she still loves me, we can get passed this.

"Maybe we should go." Kate says from the living room and she stands. "Why don't we keep Teddy for the night so you two can talk."

I look down at Ana and she nods. She's going to stay. She's going to talk this out with me.

"Thank- you, Kate." I say. She walks forward and hugs Ana tightly. She looks at me and nods. Elliot claps me on the back and they disappear through the hallway. When I hear the front door open and close, I lunge forward. My hand cup each side of Ana's face and I push her back into the wall of the hallway, kissing her deeply. She lets me. Her hands don't fly up into my hair like they normally do, but she allows me to kiss her. I pull away, panting, desperate for more but she shifts out of my reach and walks back towards the kitchen.

"Ana?" I call after her. "What can I do?"

"I don't know, Christian." She says, lifting herself to sit on the kitchen island.

"Do you still doubt me?" I ask.

"I believe you." She says softly. "I don't think you had sex with that girl, Christian. But you were going to. You may have had a change of heart, you may have come to your senses… but you still went over there."

My hands shoot up into my hair as I feel the guilt and the pain and the anger at myself rage through me.

"Ana, I was lost." I say at last. "I know what I did was wrong, and I understand why you feel the way you feel. I fucked up. I fucked up bad and all I can do is tell you how truly very sorry I am and promise you I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I will never fuck up like that again."

"I just don't know what to do with these feelings, Christian. Part of me wants to let all the hurt and betrayal go and make love to you, and the other part wants to storm out of here and never see you again."

"Ana, please don't go. I can't live without you."

"Christian…" She begs. I walk towards her until I'm standing between her legs, my nose against hers.

"I'll do anything. Anything you need." I whisper. "Anything you want, it's yours. Just tell me, Ana. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"I need time." she says. "I need time to process this, and to know if I can ever forgive you."

I nod my head. "I can give you that. Whatever you need."

She looks at me, there's something in her eyes that tells me she's battling with herself and then she leans forward and kisses me, hard. Her arms wrap around me and she pushes herself against me, her tongue exploring my mouth while her fingers tug at my hair. I wrap my own arms around her, pulling her into me as close as I can, desperate for her touch.

When we're both out of breath she reaches for the hem of my t-shirt and I help her pull it over my head. Once I'm free, I take her mouth again, relishing her taste. I reach around her, ready to carry her with me to our bed but the doorbell rings. Our kiss stops and I lean my forehead against hers.

"I'll be right back." I tell her and she tilts her head up to sweetly kiss me on the tip of my nose. I storm down the hall, through the lobby and open the door. There is a delivery man standing before me. What the fuck? Did Kate and Elliot leave the gate open. Or is Taylor back? Maybe he let him in?

"Mr. Grey?" the fedex man says.

"Yes?" I respond.  
>"I need you to sign for this." He hands me an electronic pad that I scroll my signature on and hands me a large white box. For a moment my heart stops as I think about the little brown package that had been delivered to me, the towel covered in Ana's blood. Relax, Grey. She's in your kitchen. You got the son of a bitch. And you'll get Linc next.<p>

"Thank you," I say and I close the door. When I emerge in the kitchen, Anastasia looks at me curiously. Part of me wants to save the package for later, to pick up where we left off and carry her to my bed, but I've promised to try and regain her trust. I don't want her to think I'm hiding something from her.

I rip open the package and a whip, a set of bondage cuffs, a ball gag and a set of nipple clamps fall onto the counter. Anastasia looks down at the items and her look of curiosity turns to anger.

"What the fuck is this?" She demands. I look up at her, panicked.

"Real nice, Christian. Real fucking nice." She says and she slides off the counter and storms down the hallway towards the door, grabbing her purse and keys of the table in the foyer.

"Anastasia, wait. I don't know what these are.. I didn't order these." I call after her but the front door slams shut. Fuck!

I stare furiously down at the items in front of me and then look into the half ripped box. There is a note inside. I swear to god, if these are from Elena, I'm going to drive over there and beat the shit out of her tonight. I've already had to stop myself from doing it once, when that lunatic told me she had hired him. Oh yes, Elena, you're going to get yours too.

I pull the paper out and read it and my brow furrows as I realize it's not from Elena. I have no idea who it's from.

For your pleasure and mine. -S


	20. Chapter 20

**Andrea POV**

When I get into work, Rachel hasn't arrived yet. It's 7am on Monday morning and Mr. Grey isn't here which means that he and Mrs. Grey either had a really good weekend, or a really bad one. I'm hoping its the former and that either way, Rachel gets here before Mr. Grey does. I check my email again but I don't have anything from him. He usually texts or emails me every Monday morning for his schedule but I haven't heard from him since Saturday morning. All things considered, that probably isn't a good thing. I hear a ping from the elevator.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late." Rachel cries and I'm relieved.

"Its okay, can you start the coffee? I'm getting everything booted up here." I tell her. She nods, putting her purse in the bottom drawer and scurries off to the break room. Ten minutes later, the elevator pings again.

"Good morning, Mr. Grey." I greet him. "Can I get you some coffee?"

He doesn't say anything and instead storms past me, throwing his office door open and slamming it shut behind him so hard I feel the things on my desk rattle. Okay, bad weekend.

"Get a cup of coffee, quick." I tell Rachel and she practically sprints to the break room while I gather up the first round of the mail for the morning. Rachel's hands are shaking and she hands me the coffee. Mr. Grey has been particularly cold to her this last week and I suspect its because she looks at him like an idiot in heat every time he addresses her. Well, when she's not cowering from him that is.

I take the mail and the coffee and gently knock on the door. There is no answer. Shit, maybe now isn't the time? No, if I don't follow the routine, he'll be even more pissed. Maybe if I'm just in and out, don't make a sound, he won't say anything to me at all.

Quietly, I push open the door and rush to his desk. He's sitting in front of his computer, furiously pounding on the keys. As calmly, and with as much control as I can muster, I set the coffee down in front of him and place the mail on the corner of the desk. He doesn't acknowledge me. Whew!

I hear him tearing through the mail as I walk away.

"What the fuck is this?" he yells and I stop in my tracks. Fuck.

"What, sir?" I ask, turning to face him. He's ripping open a large white envelope and pulls out a jeweled case. As he looks at it, his anger fades into confusion and then back to fury in a nano second.

"Where did this come from?" he snaps.

"It must have come in with fedex yesterday," I reply. "It was with the legal documents the weekend crew left on my desk."

"Get this out of my sight." He says, tossing the jeweled case at me. "And if Anastasia calls or comes up here, you let me know immediately, understand?"

"Yes, sir." I say, picking up the case from the desk and hurrying out of the office. Bad weekend, definitely a bad weekend. He and Mrs. Grey must be fighting. I know that Mrs. Grey gets through no matter what so his reminder must be because he doesn't think she is going to call or come up here.

"Is it bad?" Rachel asks as I sit down next to her.

"Really bad." I respond. "I think he's fighting with his wife. It's never worse than when he's fighting with his wife." Well now it is… but she wasn't around during the submissive days, or lack of submissive days I should say.

"What's that?" She asks, looking down at my hand. I'm still holding the jeweled case and I look at it for the first time. Its a copy of Rihanna's single S&M and in permanent marker scribbled across the front it reads: I like it, like it.

Oh shit. I try to hide it from Rachel's view but I'm sure she's seen it. Well, I guess that's what the NDA is for.

**CPOV**

Its September 10th. Anastasia's birthday. She didn't answer any of my calls or emails from last night or this morning. I'm going to have to ambush her when she gets here. Make her talk to me. Shit, do I want to do that on her birthday? Today was supposed to be… well special. I have plans, so many plans. Is that all down the fucking drain. I look down at my computer and flip through my emails again, the same question from last night bouncing around in my mind. Who the fuck is "S"?

Its someone who knows, so that limits the possibilities. Susannah maybe? This doesn't feel like Susannah, it has more of a Leila feel to it, but I don't think Leila would test me like this. Not knowing what she'll lose. I pull a black book out of the top drawer of my desk, find the number I need and dial on my office phone. It rings eight times before someone answers.

"Hello?" The sleepy voice responds. Shit, it is pretty early.

"Susannah?" I snap. "Tell me it isn't you."

"Mr. Grey?" She asks.

"Tell me it isn't you Susannah because if I find out it is, so help me…" I don't even know how to finish the threat. I'm so preoccupied with my anger at Elena and Linc that I don't have the capacity for ex-submissives right now.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Grey. I didn't tell anyone, if that's what you mean."

"You haven't sent me any packages?" I demand.  
>"No."<p>

"Good-bye then, Susannah."

"Mr. Grey?" She asks again, but I hang up the phone. Well if its not her, who the fuck is it? S… Submissive? Fuck it could be anyone of them. I spend the morning going down the list, but none of them seem to know what I'm talking about, and the ones who are married now are pretty pissed that I'm calling them.

Its nine o'clock when my phone buzzes, and I reach down for it irritated.

"What?"

"Mr. Grey." Andrea says hesitantly. "Mrs. Grey's security team is out here, they would like to speak to you."

"Send them in!" I demand and Sawyer and Ryan step into my office.

"What's wrong?" I ask. Shit, did Elena get to her? Linc?

"Mrs. Grey fired us, sir." Sawyer says and I glare at him.

"Mrs. Grey, doesn't have the ability to do that." I tell them, "Get back downstairs and do the job I pay you for."

"We would, Sir." Ryan hesitates. "But she's hired her own security team. They won't let us in the office."

"What!" I roar and I bolt out of my seat.

"Mr. Grey?" Andrea calls as I run past her desk and begin pounding on the elevator button. When it opens, I press 19 and pace around the tiny space until it releases me into the lobby outside of Grey Publishing. There are two men standing in suits on either side of the glass doors. I storm past them but one of them reaches out and grabs me by the shoulder, holding me in place and preventing me from going into the office.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I ask, furiously.  
>"I'm sorry, Mr. Grey, but you are on Mrs. Grey's list of proscribed visitors." he says flatly.<p>

"Excuse me?" I ask incredulous.

"I can't allow you in, sir." He says again.  
>"How about I own the fucking building and if you don't get out of my way, I'll call the police and have you both removed?"<p>

The two men glance at each other and step aside, but they follow me as I make my way across the room. When I get to Anastasia's office, the door is locked and I begin to pound on it furiously. I turn to look at Hannah who cringes each time my fist hits the door.

"Anastasia, open the fucking door!" I call. I hear the long beep of a phone and Anastasia's voice come from Hannah's desk.

"Go away, Christian. I don't want to see you."

"I'm not going to let you fire your security team, Ana. And I'm certainly not going to let you hire your own team to keep me away!" I yell through the door.

"I don't want you keeping tabs on me through security, Christian." Hannah's phone says.

"Anastasia!"

She doesn't answer. I bang on the door again. Nothing. Everyone in the office is staring at me. I look down at my watch, fuck it's almost time. I glare at the door. I"ll email her when I get back up to my office.

I'm sure everyone can feel the anger in the wake I leave as I stomp out of GP. When I'm back on my own floor I walk single mindedly towards Andrea and Rachel.

"Are they in place?" I ask.

"Yes, sir. What's…?" Andrea begins but I cut her off.

"Let me know when my 09:30 is here, Andrea. I am not to be disturbed during the meeting. No phone calls, no visitors. Not even Mrs. Grey, do you understand?"

"You want me to keep Mrs. Grey out, sir?" She asks skeptically.  
>"Yes."<p>

"Yes, sir." She responds and I storm into my office, sit at my desk and begin composing my email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Happy Birthday?

Date: September 10th 09:23 AM

To: Anastasia Grey

Anastasia. I don't want to fight with you. Please trust me when I tell you I had nothing to do with that package last night. Its your birthday. Please let me treat you tonight.

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I stare at the screen for another 5 minutes, but I don't get a reply. The phone buzzes.

"Mr. Grey?" Andrea says. "Your 09:30 is here."

"Send them in." I say and I straighten my tie. The door opens and, dressed in a tight, low cut black dress, Elena walks in.  
>"Christian." She says as she enters. The door closes behind her but she doesn't approach my desk.<p>

"Elena." I say, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the desk.

"Why have you asked me here, Christian?" She asks.

"I want to talk to you. Anastasia left me and I believe she spoke with you before she made that decision. I was hoping you could tell me what happened?"

She seems to exhale and then saunters over to my desk, sitting gracefully in the chair across from me.

"She didn't tell you what happened?" Elena asks.

"No." I say, running a finger over my bottom lip. She raises and eyebrow, intrigued.

"She said she couldn't trust you anymore, Christian. That's the problem with romantic relationships over contractual ones. She can question your motives."

"It seems I should have listened to you from the beginning, Elena."

She smiles. "Yes, Christian."

Her tongue runs over her top lip. "Is that the only reason you asked me here?" Her voice is suggestive.  
>"No." I tell her. I stand up and walk languidly around the desk, tracing my finger across the wood as I go. When I'm standing next to her, my finger moves from the desk to her elbow and as I circle around her, I lightly run my fingertip up her arm, over the fabric of her dress on her shoulder and up her neck. My thumb brushes the spot behind her ear and she shivers. I grasp the hair at the nape of her neck and yank her to her feet, holding her in place by her hair. She groans as I run the tip of my nose up her neck where my finger had just been.<p>

"I want you to tell me where I can find Linc." I whisper in her ear. She freezes.

"Why would I tell you that?" She snaps.

"Because he kidnapped and tortured my wife, Elena. You hired a man to kidnap and torture my wife under his orders, didn't you."

"Christian…"

I grip her hair harder, pulling and she gasps with pain. I smile against her neck and reach out to take her arm, pulling it behind her and securing it with my hand and forearm.

"That's what happened, isn't it?" I hiss.

"Yes." she moans. I force her down onto the desk and reach out for the ruler from the cup on my desk and run it lightly down her back.

"I may be out of practice, Elena. But I haven't lost my touch. Tell me where he is."

"I can take a little pain, Christian." She purrs up at me. I laugh lightly, though not with humor.

"Would you like to find out how much?" I ask. She whimpers and I release her, walking back around the desk to my chair. I can see how flustered she is and I smile wickedly at her.

"I'll make you a deal." I say.

"A deal?" She pants.

"Last year, when I told you Ana was pregnant, you asked me to sleep with you. You told me you'd never had it as good as me since we stopped. You said you wanted me."

"Yes." She breathes.

"Well, if you tell me where Linc is. You can have me, anyway you want me. Anyway I want you." My gaze is dark and I can see the effect my words have on her.

"Anastasia?" She asks.

"I told you. She's left."

Her lips press together as she resolves herself. "He's staying at the Fairmont Hotel under the name Conor Parrish. Room 1489." She licks her lips and stands up.

"Thank-you, Elena." I say, and I raise my voice as I continue, "Detective?"

The room is suddenly full. A man in a sharp suit and a police officer come out of the coat closet against the far wall of my office. The double doors open and six more armed officers pour in. Taylor enters the room and closes the double doors behind him. Elena stutters and glares down at me. I'm impassive, my finger running over my bottom lip.

"That should be enough for a prosecutor, Mr. Grey. Good work!" the Detective says and Elena rounds on me, fury alight on her overly made up face.

"You betrayed me, Christian." she hisses.

"No, Elena. The betrayal was yours." I say. One of the officers approaches her, takes her right wrist and slaps a cuff over it. Once she's fully cuffed, he reads her her rights.

"We'll need you to come downtown and make a statement, Mr. Grey." Detective Clark says.

"I'll follow you." I tell him and rise from my chair. We walk out of the office and I freeze. Anastasia is standing at the desk, presumably talking to Andrea who is looking, horrified, at a piece of paper in her hands.

"Is this one of your sick, twisted games?" Anastasia shouts, her eyes shooting between me and Elena.

"Anastasia!" I shout. But she turns and steps into the elevator, disappearing to the floor below.

"Well he wanted to ruin your marriage." Elena sneers. "Looks like Linc wins after all Grey."

"Get her out of here." I say coldly.

I walk across the lobby and press the elevator button for the detective and when it arrives I let him know that I'll meet him at the station. When they're gone, I walk towards Andrea, who is burning bright red and holding the piece of paper out for me. I look down at it:

**Hard Limits**

No acts involving fire play

No acts involving urination or defecation and the products thereof

No acts involving needles, knives, cutting, piercing, or blood

No acts involving gynecological medical instruments

No acts involving children or animals

No acts that will leave any permanent marks on the skin

No acts involving breath control.

No activity that involves the direct contact of electric current (whether alternating or direct), fire or flames to the body.

I accept your limits, Mr. Grey.

-S


	21. Chapter 21

**APOV**

"Happy Birthday, to you. Happy Birthday, to you. Happy birthday, dear Ana. Happy Birthday, to you."

I stir awake and turn to see Kate standing over me. She's holding a stack of pancakes with three candles stuck in the center. I groan. I really don't feel like celebrating.

"So I was thinking." Kate says, sitting on the bed. "You should call into work and we should spend the whole day together doing awesome things."

I sit up. "I can't Kate. I've already missed too much work."

"But it's your birthday." she pouts.

"I really don't feel like celebrating, Kate." I say. She pushes the pancakes into my lap and I smile, blowing softly until the candles are extinguished.

"I'm not letting you be miserable on your birthday. Fuck Christian. Lets go out tonight. Somewhere amazing. I'll call Jose!"

I smile. It would be nice to get out, to be distracted from the mess my marriage has become. And it would be nice to see Jose.

"What do you mean by amazing, Kate?" I ask.

"A club! We could go to Christia…. oh wait, no." Her brow furrows as she thinks of a different idea.

"Just pick a small dive bar with a pool table, Kate. We can go get hamburgers and french fries and drink beer all night." I say.

"If that's what you're into Anastasia." she replies, disappointed.

I nod and hand her back the pancakes. "Here, I don't have time for breakfast. I've got to get Teddy to Grace so I can get to work."

"Oh Shit, Ana! Grace has that Leukemia fundraiser tonight. Do you think Mia will watch Teddy? I guess I can ask Elliot."

"I'll email, Christian. I'm sure he would like a night with his son." I swallow the lump in my throat as I realize that I wont be spending my birthday with my husband.

"Sounds good." Kate says, leaping to her feet. She walks to the door and then turns back around. "Oh those security guys you hired last night are here."

"Tell them I'll be ready to leave in half an hour."

She nods and closes the door.

When I get to GEH, I'm met at the front door by Sawyer and Ryan.

"Mrs. Grey." Sawyer greets me.

"Sawyer, Ryan. I no longer require your services. I have my own security detail that will watch over me. You are dismissed." I say.

"I'm sorry. Mrs. Grey." Sawyer responds. "I don't believe you have the authorization to do that."

I glare at him. "My name is also on the bank account your paychecks come from and I'm telling you, you're fired." I storm passed them, pleased as I hear my own security guards stop them from following me. We get into the elevator and ride up to the 19th floor.

"You two better stay here." I tell my security team. "It won't be long before my husband finds out and I'm sure he'll be down here. He's not to be allowed in. I also want you to keep out those two men from downstairs and a man named Jason Taylor, think of it as a proscribed list. In fact, if anyone comes to see me, have them approved by Hannah before you let them in."

"Yes ma'am." The tallest one replies. Archer, I believe. I nod and walk through the door.

"Good-morning, Ana!" Claire greets me and I smile at her, pleased by the feeling of normalcy. I stop at Hannah's desk and she holds out a cupcake for me.

"Happy Birthday, Mrs. Grey." she smiles.

"Thank you, Hannah. Mr. Grey will probably be down here in a few minutes, but he's not to be let in. He'll probably find a way though, so I'll be keeping my door locked. I just don't want you to panic."

"Sure, Ana. Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you." I reply. I turn and enter my office, locking the door behind me. Whew, there is a relaxing sense of solitude being locked behind the door. I feel like I haven't had time alone to think in ages.

I haven't even got my computer started up yet when I hear the tornado that is Christian Grey blow through my office. The door handle jiggles and is then followed by three loud bangs.

"Anastasia, open the fucking door!" He screams.

I reach down for the intercom button on my phone and push it down, knowing he'll be able to hear me better over Hannah's handset.

"Go away, Christian. I don't want to see you."

"I'm not going to let you fire your security team, Ana. And I'm certainly not going to let you hire your own team to keep me away!"

"I don't want you keeping tabs on me through security, Christian." I snap and I release the intercom button. I'm done talking.

"Anastasia!" He yells, banging against the door again. I glare at the door and stick my tongue out. Childish, but effective. Surprisingly, my silence does it. I hear him storm away. Ha!

I get up and unlock the door. Everyone is staring at me and I immediately flush. Shit, why did he have to make a scene at work?  
>"Are you sure I can't get you anything, Ana?" Hannah asks.<p>

"Coffee, please." I say and I back into my office again. I hope Roach doesn't come in here and yell at me for how inappropriate that was. Well, I guess he can't since the seen was caused by his boss.

Hannah brings me my coffee and I smile up at her gratefully. "If you need anything else, Mrs. Grey, just let me know."

I smile at her and she exits, leaving me in the peaceful solitude once again. I open my email and click through the first unread messages in my inbox. I'm not even half way through the second one when I hear the ping of an email coming in.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Happy Birthday?

Date: September 10th 09:23 AM

To: Anastasia Grey

Anastasia. I don't want to fight with you. Please trust me when I tell you I had nothing to do with that package last night. Its your birthday. Please let me treat you tonight.

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I scowl at the email. Well at least he remembered my birthday. I shake my head, of course he remembered. He may be a dick sometimes, but he's not forgetful. And... he loves me. My lips press together at that thought. I haven't cried yet and I don't want work to be the place where the dam breaks.

I spend the next few minutes reading and responding to the remaining emails. When I'm finished, I switch over to my calendar and my mouth drops open. There must be 50 things scheduled for today. What is all this? I click on the first meeting link and a pop up opens:

Event: Telecommunications Conference Planning

When: 08:30 AM [Cancelled]

Who: Telecommunications Committee

Where: Conference Call

Created by: Andrea Weber

Oh, this is Christian's calendar. That's right. I asked Rachel to sync my calendar with Christian's. How does he get all of this stuff done in one day. I've got to hand it to him, the man is nothing if not organized. I click the next link:

Event: Personal Meeting

When: 09:30 AM

Who: Elena Lincoln

Where: GEH Office

Created by: Christian Grey

Oh shit! I look down at the clock. 09:34. Well assuming she's punctual, she's up there right now. I can feel it. The water works are coming. Why did I believe him? The words he said last night, about wanting to prove to me that he would never do anything like that ever again and now… here's the proof. He was lying straight to my face. Is that why he ordered the whips and restraints? Is he using them on her now?

There is a knock on the door and I brush the backs of my hands over my eyes. "Who is it?"

"Hannah, Mrs. Grey. I have the mail.'  
>"Come in." I say. She sets the mail on my desk.<p>

"Thank you, Hannah." I tell her. She looks like she's going to say something decides better and leaves the room. I reach out for the mail, needing a distraction from Christian's secret-not-so-secret rendezvous with Mrs. Robinson.

Its mostly just new manuscripts but there is one letter sized envelope. I turn it over in my hands and realize its addressed to Mr. Grey. It must have been put in the wrong box in the mail room by mistake. I open it hesitantly and immediately wish I wouldn't have. I see the list of Christian's hard limits. I accept your limits, Mr. Grey. -S.

Who is S? The submissive Elena brought for him? I'm suddenly overcome by rage, unable to take this and the meeting notification in one sitting. I storm out of the office and up to the 20th floor.

"Where is he?" I yell at Andrea when I get out of the elevator. Both she and Rachel are staring at the double doors to Christian's office and their panicked gazes turn towards me. Rachel flies out from behind the desk to stand in front of Christian's door. Well that confirms it.

"Mr. Grey is unavailable right now." Andrea says nervously. "He's in a meeting."

"Oh I know exactly what kind of meeting he's in, Andrea." I thrust the hard limits paper at her and her eyes widen with horror as she looks down and reads it. "You tell him to talk to the mail room about how they sort mail. I don't want this shit in my office."

The doors to Christian's office open and I round on them, furious, but am surprised as I see Elena in handcuffs being escorted out by police.

Its a scene Anastasia. Remember, this was the shit he was into before you were in the picture.

"Is this one of your sick, twisted games?" I shout at him, my glare darting between Christian and Elena. I feel the threatening sting of tears and race back to the elevator. He calls out after me but I ignore him, and disappear to the floor below.

I don't get any work done for the rest of the day. I'm really looking forward to beer tonight with Kate and Jose, lots of beer. Hell, I might even get drunk. Oh shit, that reminds me, I need to get Christian to take Teddy. I reach out to type an email.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Teddy

Date: September 10th 2012 11:52 AM

To: Christian Grey

I'm going out with Kate and Jose for my birthday tonight. I need you to pick up Teddy from your parents house before 7 and keep him tonight. Tomorrow, I will be moving into Escala. Note, I'm only telling you this because of our child. You are to stay out of the apartment except on an approved visitation schedule.

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Night out

Date: September 10th 2012 11:56 AM

To: Anastasia Grey

What are you doing tonight with Kate and Jose? I was hoping we could talk. I have dinner reservations for your birthday.

Christian Grey, CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: MY night

Date: September 10th 2012 12:01 PM

To: Christian Grey

I am going to a bar and having drinks with my friends. I have nothing else to say to you. Cancel your dinner reservations, or perhaps take Mrs. Robinson.

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Please

Date: September 10th 2012 12:03 PM

To: Anastasia Grey

Please Anastasia. I need to explain. Its not what you think. I didn't order those things last night and you're way off on Elena. Please let me take you out for your birthday.

I love you

Christian Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Teddy

Date: September 10th 2012 12:06 PM

To: Christian Grey

I don't want to spend my birthday arguing with you, Christian. I've already made plans. Will you take Teddy or do I need to get Mia or Elliot to do it?

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Teddy

Date: September 10th 2012 12:09 PM

To: Anastasia Grey

Yes, of course I will take Teddy. Enjoy your birthday. I love you.

Christian Grey, CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

That night when I'm out with Kate and Jose, I don't show much interest in hamburgers or french fries. The same can not be said for alcohol.

"But seriously, who does he think he is?" I slur over the table at Kate and Jose. I'm on my… I don't even know how many beers and the room is fuzzy around me.

"He thinks he can just do whatever he wants and I'll turn a blind eye?" I drain the bottle in front of me.

"Maybe we should get you some water, Ana." Kate suggests.

"Or maybe, we should get me something stronger. Like brandy." I pull out my black AMEX card. "Drinks on Christian everyone. Drink up!"

"Ana, I think you've had enough." Jose says. He and Kate stand together and each grasp one of my arms.

"You sound like Christian. Always telling me what to do." I say. "If I want to get drunk on my birthday, I'll get drunk. Lets to shots!"

"Ana, I"m taking you home." Kate says. I hear the bell jingle over the door and turn. Its then that I notice Taylor standing by the doorway. How long has he been there?

"Oh no. That party police is here."

"Lets get you in bed, Ana." Kate says. I feel my stomach whirl and my hand flies up to my mouth to prevent myself from vomiting.

"Jesus, Ana." Kate says and she's pushing me through the crowd towards the bathrooms.

"You know, they always say you can tell if you have a good boyfriend by if he holds your hair while you vomit." I say, after I'm sure I have completely emptied my stomach. "Christian held my hair when I threw up that night. That night in Portland, do you remember Kate?"

"Yes, I remember."

"You were there. Hey, that's when you met Elliot."

"Come on, Ana. If you're finished, Lets get you off this disgusting floor and back home." She pulls me to my feet and leads me out of the bathroom. Taylor is standing outside the door, looking anxious.

"Mrs. Grey?" He asks.

"She's trashed." Kate says.

"Where is her security detail?" Taylor asks.

"I sent them away!" I cry. "Birthdays don't need security. Birthdays need tequila. Margaritas for everyone."

"Did Christian send you?" Kate asks.

"No ma'am. Its my night off. I just wanted to make sure Mrs Grey was okay."

"Help me get her to the car?" Kate begs.

Taylor takes my arm from Kate and scoops me into his arms, carrying me outside. I wonder where Jose is? I look around for him and immediately regret it as the room starts spinning.

"Oh no." I mumble.

"Are you going to be sick, Mrs. Grey?" Taylor asks.

"I don't think so. Can I lie down?"

"We're almost to the car, Mrs. Grey."

I feel the refreshing relief of the cool night air and then I'm being lifted into the back seat of the Audi SUV.

"You'll take her back to Escala?" I hear Kate ask.

"She shouldn't be alone, Mrs. Grey. I think I should take her to the main house."

"No." Kate says. "She doesn't want to go there. I'll meet you at Escala. I'll stay with her tonight."

"Yes ma'am."

The next thing I know, I'm in the big bed in my bedroom at Escala. Kate has stripped me down to my t-shirt and underwear and I feel like melting into the pillows. Its so comfortable.

"Kate. Where's my phone?" I ask.

"Its on the nightstand, Ana. Do you want me to sleep in here with you or can you call me if you need something?"

"Are you leaving?"

"No, I'll just sleep in the guest room."

"The submissive room." I correct.

"Jesus, Ana. You really are wasted." She says. "I'll check on you in a minute. I'm going to call Elliot and let him know I'm staying the night."

I hear the door close and I fumble for my phone on the nightstand. Luckily, I have the number I need on speed dial so I only have to hold down the number 2.

"Anastasia?" Christian answers.

"I'm mad at you." I tell him. "I'm really really mad at you."

"Are you drunk?"

"I am very drunk, Mr. Grey. And I am horny as hell and I'm mad at you."

"Anastasia, are you alone?" He asks, and I know even through the haze of alcohol that he's mad. Who does he think is here?

"Kate's somewhere." I mumble

"And Jose?"

"I don't know where he went. But I'm in our bed Christian and I want you to talk dirty to me."

"Anastasia." He says sternly. "You need to get some sleep. Christ, do I need to come over there?"

"Yes, Mr. Grey. You need to come everywhere." I giggle.

The door opens and Kate re-appears.  
>"Who are you talking to?" She asks and she sets a large glass of water on the nightstand. I hold my finger to my lips and shh her. She reaches out and takes the phone from me.<p>

"Hello?"

"Jesus, Kate. How much did she have to drink?" he's talking so loud I can hear him from the bed.

"I think she left the place dry." Kate says.

I don't hear his reply but I'm sure he's mad. Good, be mad at someone else for a change.

"I'll take care of her, Christian." Kate says and she hangs up the phone.  
>"Noooo!" I whine and reach out for it. "I wasn't finished."<p>

"You need to get some sleep." She says and she climbs into the bed next to me.

"I'm mad at him Kate but I still love him." I tell her.

"I know."

"I love that he's so smart and playful. And I love that he makes me come like a freight train."

"Goodnight, Ana." she says irritably.

"Goodnight, Kate." I mumble and I drift off into a dreamless sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

**APOV **

In the morning, I'm blinded by the sunlight flooding in through the open windows. My head is throbbing. Ugh, why did I drink so much last night? Oh, right… Christian.

I turn over, trying to cover my eyes with my forearm and I feel a wave of nausea hit me. Oh no. As quickly as I can, I throw myself out of the bed and run for the bathroom.

"Ana?" I hear Kate ask from behind the door. I'm sure the violent sound has waken her. "Are you okay?"

"No." I moan back. Slowly, I get up and turn on the faucet to rinse my mouth out. Then I turn to face her.

"You look terrible." She says when I open the door.

"I feel terrible." I tell her and I stomp back to the bed and bury myself in the duvet.

"Can I get you anything?" Kate asks, worried. Crap. I don't think there is any food in the house. We haven't been here in months. Well, I haven't.

"I don't think there is anything in the kitchen, Kate. Will you hand me my phone? I think I'm going to have to call in."

She hands the blackberry to me and I call Roach. Mercifully, the call is short. When I hang up, I notice a text message from Christian.

**How are you feeling this morning?**

Nope. Not ready to face that yet. I put the phone on the nightstand and wrench myself to my feet. Kate helps steady me as the room shifts and pitches like a boat on the rough sea, and then helps me out to the kitchen.

"There's some crackers here." She says, digging through the cupboards.

"Crackers sound good." I say, my head resting on the breakfast bar. We hear the ping of the elevator and my new security guards walk into the great room from the foyer.

"There's a Mrs. Jones here, Mrs. Grey?" He says.

Mrs. Jones? I nod to him, and he disappears back into the foyer.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Grey." Mrs. Jones says brightly as she walks into the room. My head pounds at her high, too loud voice and I groan. She's carrying grocery bags though, so at least I'll be able to eat something and absorb all this alcohol.

"What can I make you for breakfast?" She asks.

"How about an omelet Gail? She needs something nutritious." Kate says.

"Coming right up. Would you like one as well, Mrs. Grey?"

Kate nods and smiles as she takes the bar stool next to me and rubs her hand gently over my back. When Mrs. Jones sets the omelet in front of me, my stomach twists but I know I need to eat. I force small mouthfuls down and wash them down with orange juice. When I'm finish, I feel a little better, but not much.

"I'm thinking pajamas and movies, what do you think?" Kate asks and I nod my head.

"Is there anything you need, Mrs. Grey?" Gail asks as I push away from the breakfast bar. "I'm going out this afternoon for the basics for you and Theodore but if you want anything special I can pick it up while I'm out."

Truthfully, though I can't allow myself to say it… What I want is Christian. Not this new Christian, the person he's become since I was kidnapped. The constantly obsessed with finding kidnappers, contacts Mrs. Robinson and nearly has his way with a submissive, Christian. I want the playful, good husband, good father, slightly controlling but loves me wholly and irrationally Christian. Does all of this mean that I can never get that back? Do I have to let him go? I don't want to. The thought is painful, intolerable. But I don't know what to do with what's been broken.

"Ana!" Kate calls to me and my head pounds.

"What?" I whimper back.

"It's Elena, she's on the news!"

I look over at the TV and see side by side pictures of Elena Lincoln and a man I've never seen but the TV tells me is Andrew Lincoln. The pictures are mug shots. Oh, so it wasn't a scene? Did Christian really have Elena arrested yesterday?

I try to mull this over in my head as the newscaster tells me about a trial date set for the kidnappers of one of Seattle's richest businessman's wife. Does this make a difference, now that I know he didn't do what I thought he did with Elena in his office yesterday? I think about the package he received Sunday night and the mail that came through my office yesterday. It was signed S… Who is S?

"Did you know, Christian had her arrested?" Kate asks me.

"I-I saw Elena come out of his office in handcuffs yesterday, but I didn't believe.." My voice cuts off.

"Ana. You know I love you and I'll support you whatever you want to do… but are you sure you want this?" And I know she's talking about a separation from Christian. The truth is, I don't know. I'm just so hurt. I know I can't just go back to the way it was. Not for a while at least. But to lose him completely? I shake my head at her and turn around, walking towards my bedroom.

When I'm alone again, I do a quick emotional inventory. Nope, I don't think I'm going to cry… I change out of my t-shirt and into real pajamas. Okay, a pair of sweats and one of Christian's t-shirts. When I turn around, I see the blue light on my blackberry blinking. I pick it up, there is an email from Christian.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Sick day

Date: September 11th 2012 09:45 AM

To: Anastasia Grey

You're that sick? I know what it takes to get you to take a day off work. Please call me Anastasia I'm worried. Oh, and Teddy is at the house with Mia. Would you like me to have her bring him to you at Escala? You can go home if you want to. I know you'll be more comfortable there. I can stay in the apartment if you prefer.

Christian Grey, CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I type a response.

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: Sick day

Date: September 11th 2012. 10:15 AM

To: Christian Grey

I'll be fine Christian. I just need the afternoon to recuperate. I'll call Mia, and no, you can stay at the house. I'm too sick to leave right now.

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing.

When I hit send, I exit out of the mail and dial Mia's number. She doesn't answer but before I can even start recording a voicemail, my phone beeps and tells me she's calling on the other line.

"Hi, Mia." I answer.

"Sorry, Ana. I was just laying Teddy down for a nap." She says.

"That's okay. Hey Kate and I are having a movie and PJs day at Escala. Do you want to bring Teddy over and join us?"

"Sure!" She says. "I'm going to have to borrow some PJs though."

"Oh there's plenty there." I laugh.

"I'll be over soon, Ana. Laters!"

"Laters!" I say back, and I'm smiling when I hang up. Maybe this is what I've been missing. Girl time.

Kate, Mia and I spend the afternoon watching Breakfast at Tiffany's, Pretty Woman and Bridesmaids. All three of us are laughing out of control and I realize that I'm not ready to give this up. The relationship between Mia and I would never be the same if I left Christian and things may even change between Kate and I, now that she too is a Mrs. Grey. Part of the reason I fell in love was Christian was his family. Grace, Elliot, Mia, even Carrick. They're all my family now too because of Christian and I don't want to lose them.

It's getting dark and Mia has to head home. She hugs me and makes me promise we'll so something like this again soon. I smile and tell her anytime, anywhere. Kate decides to go too. Apparently she feels guilty for ignoring her own husband while I've been fighting with mine and I don't blame her. In fact, I feel a little guilty too. But when she leaves, Teddy and I are alone. It's unsettling. Sure there is security here, but it's not family.

After I've put Teddy to bed for the night, I stare out the window over the lights of Seattle. I remember I used to think of Christian as hiding from the world in his ivory tower. Is that what I'm doing now? Hiding from our problems instead of facing them? Maybe I should call, Christian. We really need to talk. I walk to the kitchen counter to pick up my blackberry when I'm distracted, once again, by my security guard.

"Mrs. Grey, there is an Andrea Weber here to see you?" he asks.

"Let her in." I say and he leaves to fetch her from the foyer. A few minutes later I see Christian's assistant walking nervously towards me.

"Mrs. Grey," she begins, "I hope I'm not intruding but I need to speak with you. You didn't come to work today and I didn't think this was a suitable conversation to have over the phone."

"What is it Andrea?" I ask, gesturing to the couch. She smiles gratefully and takes a seat.

"Mrs. Grey, I think your husband is being blackmailed… and I think it's my fault."

"What do you mean?" I ask and she reaches into her purse, pulls out an envelope and hands it to me. I open the letter and read:

Your lack of response is disheartening Mr. Grey. If you don't want to play my game, I may have to tell your secret to TMZ. I'm sure the media would love to know the true Christian Grey. You have until Friday to decide. –S

I stare up at her and her eyes fall to the floor.

"Where did you get this?" I ask.

"He's been asking me to shred the letters." She hesitates and looks up at me more determined. "Ok, look. I know. I know about you and Susannah and Leila and Caroline and Charlotte and..."

I hold my hand up and grimace. "I get it, you know."

"The NDA you signed?" she continues. "I emailed it to him because I always email it to him. And the contract, I fax it to him. He likes it faxed to him so that it has a date and time stamp. There is only one electronic copy of that document, Mrs. Grey and it's on my computer at GEH, only accessible from my profile.. Its password protected and even has a firewall on it so that IT can't access it remotely. In fact, my entire computer profile was taken off the GEH monitoring system to prevent security or IT from finding those documents."

"Sounds like my husband trusts you." I say gently.

"He does, and he should Mrs. Grey. I would never do anything to break that trust. Which is why when you handed me the list of hard limits. When I got this letter, I knew that "S" had the contract, so someone had gotten into my computer. I checked the document access history on my computer and saw the last time it had been accessed was in the middle of the day on September 3rd. Mrs. Grey, I haven't accessed that document since…"

"It's okay, Andrea. You don't have to be embarrassed. Go, on." I reassure her.

"The last time I accessed that document was last May when he had me fax it to him for you and my desk is never left unattended while the building is open. There is only one person who could have gotten into it. Mrs. Grey, I think I know who S is."

"Who?" I ask.

"I don't want to lose my job…" She says nervously.

"Don't worry about that, Andrea. Tell me what you know."

"It was her first day. IT was delayed in creating her profile because GP was moving into the building and they were busy setting up your systems on the network... so I was letting her use my email, my log on until her's could be set up. I didn't think in the hour I was away, she would go through my documents and happen upon the one thing she couldn't see. That she would be interested enough to open it and find the password for the contract."

"It was Rachel?" I ask, horrified.

"I swear Mrs. Grey, she was vetted. Her resume was perfect, we got her from Jeff Bezos' office for god sakes. Her references were glowing… Even Taylor passed her without any hesitation. There was nothing in her past that would suggest she was capable of something like this."

"What did my husband say when he interviewed her?"

"He didn't. She was hired when you were recovering. He was working from home so he just asked me to send him the profile I had on her and he approved her. That was it. The first time he met her face to face was her first day. She was attracted to him, but they always are at first. I didn't think it would turn into this…"

"No, Andrea. You couldn't have known. Don't worry, I'm going to straighten this out."

"He's going to fire me." She says, and I can hear her struggling not to cry.

"No, Andrea. It's not your fault. I won't let him fire you." I reach out and grasp her shoulder reassuringly.

Holy shit, this means the package wasn't his fault. The letter, Elena… all misunderstandings.  
>"Archer!" I yell and my security guard runs into the room. "I need to get to my house, will you grab my coat?"<p>

"Yes, ma'am." He says and hurries off to get ready to leave.

"Andrea, will you watch Teddy for me? Or Call Grace or Kate?" I ask.

"I'll watch him, Mrs. Grey. No problem."

"Thank-you." I say gratefully and I dart into the foyer.

"Christian!" I yell, as I barge through the front door of the big house. I hear a scuffling sound and he hurries around the corner so I can see him down the hallway.

"Ana?" He asks. "Where's Teddy."

"Andrea has him."  
>"Andrea?"<p>

"Christian. She told me. We figured out who "S" is. Its your new assistant, Rachel."  
>"Rachel? Miss Carrington?"<p>

"Yes, she found the contract on Andrea's computer and apparently... she's crazy."

"When? How?" He stutters."Only Andrea has access to the contract. Why was she on Andrea's profile?"  
>"Andrea said the document was accessed on September 3rd, before Rachel's profile was set up. Andrea was on lunch and she must have found the document."<p>

His face shifts and he darts towards his office, I follow after him.

"What are you doing?" I ask, but he's already on his blackberry.

"Barney, I need you to give me remote access to the security footage at GEH. I need the tapes of my lobby on September 3rd from 10am to 2pm. Christian sits down at his computer and logs on to a page that has the Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc and the company logo in the banner. He clicks around the page and a big black box pops up.

I watch as a mouse moves across the screen and pulls up a video. Barney must be feeding in the footage. He fast forwards through the footage quickly and I blush as I see myself storm into the office, knowing what the outcome of that meeting was. When I'm inside, Andrea leaves the desk and Taylor and Welch come out of Christian's office.

"Slow it down here, Barney." Christian says. The video slows to just faster than real time. I watch a woman come out of the elevator and hand Rachel and envelope, she walks to the door, pauses and then slowly opens it, only to straighten with shock and ease the door close.

"Well that's just fucking fabulous." Christian growls as we watch Rachel shuffle back to her desk and bury her head in her arms. Nothing happens for a bit and then I come out of the office, followed by Christian. He sets his phone on the desk and then returns to his office.

"Why did you leave her your phone?" I ask.  
>"Andrea usually charges it for me." He answers and we watch Rachel pick up the phone and look at it.<p>

"Although it looks like I'm going to have to get a charger in my office." He adds angrily. She doesn't set down the phone for several minutes and when she does, she's looking around the office guiltily. Then she turns to the computer and stares at it for a minute. We watch as she straightens, looks wildly around the office, back at the computer and then she begins digging through things on the desk. She lifts the keyboard and then types something into the computer. A few minutes later, Andrea walks in.  
>"Do we have another view of the computer screen there, Barney?" Christian asks. He pauses for minute, listening to Barney's response. He frowns.<p>

"Thank you, Barney." Another pause and then Christian hangs up.

"Well that's it right?" I ask. "That's when she found it?"  
>"It has to be."<p>

"So what are you going to do?" I ask. His eyes darken.

"Well fire her, to start."

"But Christian, she has the contract. What if she sends it to the media?"

"Then I'll sue her for breach of her NDA." he says cooly.

"That's not going to change the fact that everyone will know. Your family. Christ, what about when Teddy is old enough to know what that means?"

"You're not suggesting I give in to her demands?" Christian asks, appalled.

"No! Of course not. But what if we can find away to show her she doesn't want what she's asking for?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if she wants to be a submissive, I think we should give her a crash course in Christian Grey, and I know just the way to do it."

* * *

><p>Christian hangs up the phone and I stare at him.<p>

"Well its done." He says, "Are you sure you're okay with this?" I nod my head, though I'm not really sure.

"Well then." He says, "Let the scene begin."


	23. Chapter 23

**Rachel POV**

When I get to work on Friday, there is a new computer being installed on my desk. I'm surprised, isn't it a little early for IT?

"Miss. Carrington." one of the IT guys greets me.

"Hello," I say. "What's all this?"

"Mr. Grey has order a computer for you, Miss Carrington. We'll have it set up in no time." I nod, place my purse in the bottom drawer and set off to start a pot of coffee. Where is Andrea? She's always here before me. Seriously, sometimes I wonder if she sleeps here. Not last night, I guess.

Once I've got the coffee started, I grab a banana out of the snack drawer and head back to my desk, remembering: The submissive will not snack between meals, with the exception of fruit.

Andrea's at the desk when I get back.

"Thanks, Gus." She says as the IT guy walks away and her eyes snap up to me. She looks weird for a moment but then she smiles. She's been acting weird this week, I wonder what's up? Maybe something's going on at home and that's why she was late this morning. Is it too soon for me to ask a personal question like that?

"Good morning, Rachel." she says. "I'm sorry I was late."

"No problem, I got the coffee started. What's with the computer?" I ask again.

"Oh.." She frowns. "Mr. Grey ordered it. He said he didn't want me sharing an email program with you."

I smile, oh yes. I've got him.

"He's so weird sometimes." I say with false bemusement. She narrows her eyes at me. Oh no Andrea, this is one thing about Mr. Grey that I'm going to know and you aren't.

The elevator pings and we both turn to greet Mr. Grey as he steps into the lobby.

"Good Morning, Mr. Grey." I say, beating Andrea to the punch.

"Good Morning, Rachel." He says, his voice is darker than usual, heady. My breath hitches as I realize he's addressed me by my first name for the first time. He glances over me sending a shiver up my sigh. He's so damn beautiful.

"Get me some coffee." He commands and he nods at Andrea before he enters his office.

"Huh.." Andrea says. "I was Miss Weber for a year before he started calling me Andrea."

That's because you can offer him what I can, Andrea.

He knows. I know he knows its me now and he's… intrigued.

"Rachel!" Andrea snaps. "What are you doing? Coffee, now!"

Oh, right. I hurry to the break room and get a cup for… Master. Hmm. I like that. I wonder how this is going to work with Mrs. Grey? I know he has two houses. Will he meet me at his apartment and keep Mrs. Grey at home with the baby? Well, that's for him to figure out. All that matters at the end of the day, is that I have him.

I smile with satisfaction as I stride purposefully across the lobby to the double wooden doors to Grey's office. I straighten my skirt and walk inside. When I enter, his eyes glance up and he watches every step I take across the room. There's something different about the way he looks at me. Its.. possessive almost. Oh yes, he wants this.

"Your coffee, _sir."_ I emphasize the last word.

"Miss Carrington." He says. "Have a seat."

I move to the chair across from him and slowly sit down, his eyes following me as I go.  
>"What can I do for you, sir?" I ask.<p>

"You're fired." He says simply and my stomach drops. What? Shit!

"M-Mr. Grey?" I stutter. Fuck, I've read this whole thing wrong. He can't be firing me for the -S stuff... he has no proof it was me. Does he?

"This is you, isn't it?" He asks, turning his monitor towards me. "Stealing confidential documents of the GEH server?"

Its a video of me at the desk, the day I found the contract. Cameras, fuck! Why did I look around?

"I-I." I stutter. I don't know what to say.

"I found a lot of interesting things on this video. You know, I never did get those contract revisions Mrs. Klein dropped off on your desk. And going through my phone? Miss Carrington…" he clicks his tongue disapprovingly at me. He's mocking me. Well, Grey, if that's how you want to play it.

"I don't think you want to fire me, Mr. Grey." I say softly.

"Oh don't you?" he asks.

"No, because what's to stop me from sending that contract out? I'm sure Harvey Levin would love some personal information on the elusive Christian Grey."

His eyes narrow and he brushes his finger over his bottom lip. "I'd rather hoped you planned on signing that contract."

I breathe in deeply. I wasn't wrong. He does want this. "You mean, you're looking for someone to fulfil the terms of that contract for you?"

"I'm saying that just because our professional relationship has to end, doesn't mean a contractual one can't exist."

I stare into his stone Grey eyes. He reaches out and presses the intercom button on his handset.

"Yes, Mr. Grey." Andrea answers

"Fax me the contract, Andrea. I need it by this afternoon." He doesn't take my eyes off of me.

"Yes, sir." she says.

"We'll need to set up a meeting place, so I can have you sign the contract this afternoon." he tells me.

"There is coffee shop right around the corner from my apartment." I tell him and he nods.

"I'll have Taylor meet you there at 1:30."

I smile. "Well if that's all Mr. Grey. I shall speak to you very soon."

His mouth curls into a half smile and I turn to leave. Well I'll need to find a new job, but I've gotten what I want. Besides, I'm sure, after our first night together, Mr. Grey will give me an excellent reference.

Later that afternoon, I walk from my apartment to the coffee shop on the corner. I order a latte and sit by the window. I see Taylor walk in at 1:28.

"Miss Carrington." he says and he pulls out a manilla envelope and hands it to me. I reach inside and slide out the contract and read over it again. The only revisions he's made has been to input my information and add my hard limits. I sign my name on the bottom and date.

Taylor takes the contract back and hands me an envelope with the address to Escala, a time to meet him there and a code to get inside.

Before heading home, I decide to stop by the salon. Per the contract, Mr. Grey will reimburse me for the services I have done and I want to make sure I'm perfect when I meet him this evening.

At exactly 7 o'clock I pull into Escala, parking in the spot the information Taylor gave me tells me to. I punch the code in the elevator and am whisked up to the 31st floor. I'm released into a beautiful foyer and walk out into a vast, modern looking living room. I don't see anyone… Strange. I was sure he'd be here. Maybe he's late? It doesn't sound like him, but I guess he does have to get here without his wife knowing.

I'm distracted from my worries by the beautiful view of the Seattle skyline. Wow, I can see the whole city from up here. There is a noise behind me and I turn to see a girl with long light brown hair coming down the stairs behind me. Shit, Mrs. Grey? No, this girl is taller than Mrs. Grey. Who the hell?  
>"Hello." She says to me. "You must be Rachel, or do you prefer to be called "S"?"<p>

"Who are you?" I ask, my eyes narrowing.

"Uh, uh, uh." She says. "Rule number one, no questions. A good submissive does as she's told and never asks questions."

I stare back at her blankly, what the fuck is this? Her eyes narrow slightly.

"We're here to help, Rachel. You're inexperienced and Mr. Grey will be very intimidating for a first timer. We're going to… help you through the basics."

"We?" I ask. She motions for me to follow her with her finger and heads back up the stairs. When I'm in the upstairs hallway, I see another brown haired girl standing outside an open door that pours light into the hallway. She's standing with her head pointed down to the ground.

"Its okay, Susie. You can look up." The brown haired girl who led me up the steps says and the other girl, Susie, snaps her head up. She smiles at me too.

"Oh, Lulu, she's over dressed." Susie says. Lulu? The first brunette nods and Susie turns to address me.

"Strip." Susie commands. Fuck she's serious. No! Where is Mr. Grey?

"Uh, oh, Susie. It looks like Miss Carrington here just disobeyed a direct command. What would Mr. Grey do?"

"I bet Sophia knows what Mr. Grey would do." Susie says. I hear the crack of a whip from inside the room and the sound of high heels clacking against hard wood. What?

Another woman, again a brunette, walks out of the room, brandishing a whip.

"Does there seem to be a problem, Leila?" Sophia asks and she glares down at me wickedly.

"It doesn't look like Miss Carrington wants to wear the appropriate attire for the playroom, Sophia."

"Oh dear, that is a problem. I think 5 lashes ought to cure that."

"Mr. Grey would do 6." Susie says. Sophia raises the whip, shit!

"Okay, okay." I say and I strip down to my panties. Fuck this is humiliating.

"Follow me." Leila says and she leads me into a dark red room. I'm floored, there must be 10 brown haired women in here. Who are these people? Ex-submissives? It would explain why they keep telling me what Mr. Grey would do. There is a girl on the floor next to the door, her hands on her knees. She too stares down at the floor.

"Amanda here is demonstrating submissive pose." Leila tells me. "Get on you knees."

I crouch down, nervous now. What are they going to do to me?

"Do you have a blindfold, Julia?" Susie asks.  
>"Absolutely, Susie." another voice answers. I look up.<p>

"Uh oh.." Lelia says. "She looked up without being told to."  
>"I don't think she's scared of the whip, Sophia. Better grab the cane." Susie says, she looks down at me. "Mr. Grey loves the cane."<p>

One of the brown hair girls throws a long wooden cane across the room and Sophia catches it. She twirls it in her hand and then brings it down, hard, on my back. I scream as I feel the bite of the cane. Pain ricochets through me and my skin feels like its on fire. Fuck that hurt. That really fucking hurt.

"Have you had enough?" Leila asks and I nod my head profusely, unable to speak as my skin is still blazing where I was hit.

Sophia bends down to my level. "Mr. Grey would do 6." she says again. I'm shaking.

"Get her up." Leila says and Amanda and Susie pull me to my feet. Leila walks across the room, and stands in front of a large wooden cross.  
>"Here will do." She says and I'm dragged across the room by Amanda and Susie. They push me against the cross and my hands and feet are attacked by the woman who wrap leather straps around my wrists and ankles, restraining me. I can't move.<p>

"Which drawer, would Mr. Grey choose?" A girl sitting on a large wooden cabinet asks.

"She doesn't have any soft limits." Leila says. "I say, go broke or go home."

The girl on the chest smiles and reaches down into a drawer, pulling out some horrible looking metal object. Where does that go? Fuck, what does Grey have in those drawers? She approaches me with a malevolent smile.

"Wait!" Leila says. "We're forgetting something. Addison?"

The girl against the far wall approaches and pulls out a camera. She brings it up to her face as Sophia hits me with the cane down again. I scream and the camera clicks. Its a polaroid camera and I hear the picture begin to print. It clicks again and again as I try to regain my focus after the second blow.

"Insurance policy." Leila whispers in my ear.

I can't do this. I'd imagined kinky sex with a hot man, with Mr. Grey. Not being tortured and tied up by a group of crazy women. Is this what he's into? More than handcuffs and ball gags? Sophia's voice rings in my head: _Mr. Grey would do six._ I think back to the contract:

Which of the following types of pain/punishment/discipline are acceptable to the Submissive?

• Spanking

• Paddling

• Whipping

• Caning

• Biting

• Nipple clamps

• Genital clamps

• Ice

• Hot wax

•Other types/methods of pain

Fuck, that was serious? I look around at the canes and whips on the wall. No. I was thinking spanking, maybe a slap or two. This is some heavy shit. I don't want that... I don't want any of that.

"Stop!" I scream.

"That's not a safe word, Rachel." Leila says. "Mr. Grey only stops for safe words."

Fuck… what was the safe word?

"Red!" I yell.

"Take her down." Leila says and in seconds, I'm released. I look into the eyes of the women around me, staring at me, glaring at me.

"You're all crazy!" I scream.

"No, _we're_ all submissives. This is what master wants. Is it what you want "S"?" The girl with the camera, Addison, says. I need to get out of here, now!

I move quickly for the door, picking up my clothes, and begin to sprint for the stairs.

"Oh Rachel." I hear Leila call after me once I'm in the living room. Remember, you have the contract but we have pictures. I'd hate to hear anything about Mr. Grey on TMZ. Almost as much as I'd hate for everyone you know and love to see pictures of you tied to a cross.

"I won't!" I yell and I reach in my purse for the folder I keep the contract in. I dump it on the ground and run.


	24. Chapter 24

**APOV**

"It's done." Christian says as he hangs up his cell phone. I'm sitting on his desk and he looks up at me. "Leila said she practically ran from the apartment."

I nod but I'm still feeling uneasy. All the people we've been fighting, they're gone. The only problem left to face is us.

"What is it Ana?" Christian asks. "Its over. Linc and Elena are behind bars and Rachel is out of the picture.

"I don't know what to do now." I say. "We're supposed to move on from here, but I don't know how." His eyes darken and he looks away from me, staring down at the desk or maybe into nothing as he speaks.

"Are you going back to Escala tonight?"

"I don't know, Christian." I whisper.

"What do I have to do, Ana? Tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'll give you anything, do anything. Just tell me what you want and it's yours."

"Its not that simple. There isn't a quick fix. I need to find a way to trust you again."

"We could see Flynn." Christian suggests.

Hm. That's a good idea. He hasn't been to see Flynn in months. Not since before the kidnapping, not since Teddy was born. Maybe Flynn could help us both.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea." I say.  
>"I'll make the appointment tomorrow morning." He replies. He stands and presses his forehead against mine. My body is aching for his touch but I don't move.<p>

"Stay with me tonight." He breathes.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Christian. If I stay, we're going to end up having sex and I don't want us to just push these problems aside. I want us to deal with them so we can move on. I don't want any more dark clouds hanging over us."

"Ana." He pleads and I can feel his head shift slightly. He wants to kiss me and I want to kiss him, but I know where that will lead. I need to leave.

Slowly, I maneuver around him and slide off the desk. I'm walking out of the office when his voice stops me.  
>"Can I keep Teddy?" he asks. I turn and look at him, struggling with myself. I have had Teddy all week, but I don't want to go back to Escala alone.<p>

"Please, Ana." He begs. "I've been alone in this house all week."

"Okay, Christian." I concede. "Call me in the morning."

"I love you." He says.

"I love you, too."

I walk back into Escala with a heavy heart. Ryan and Sawyer have followed me home and when we emerge into the foyer, they head straight for Taylor's office.

"Mrs. Grey?" Archer, my security guard, asks as he watches Sawyer and Ryan walk past.  
>"Archer. I'm bringing Mr. Grey's team back on so I won't be requiring your services any longer." I reach into my purse, pull out a small white card and hand it to him. "This is Jason Taylor's card. Give him a call. I'm sure he's always looking for a good man."<p>

"Thank you, Mrs. Grey." He says and he walks past me. I feel bad as I hear the elevator door ping. How is Christian so good at firing people?

I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of wine and as I'm staring out at the view of Seattle, I hear a loud crash and the sound of wood reverberating over the floor.

"Shit." A voice says and I set my glass down and walk around the counter to investigate. As I turn around the corner, I see Leila gathering items into a box and reaching out to pick up the canes that are rolling across the floor, Ryan rushes out into the living room.

"Mrs. Grey, the visitors haven't…" He begins but stops as he realizes I can clearly see Leila standing in front of me.

"It's okay, Ryan. I'll call if I need anything."

"Mrs. Grey?"

"I'm fine. Go." I say and he turns around and disappears. I take two steps forward and bend down to pick up the canes that have rolled across the floor to me.

"I"m sorry, Mrs. Grey." Leila says, reaching out to take them from me. Her face is burning bright red. "I didn't think you'd be home so soon."

"Are you here by yourself?" I ask, hoping I'm not about to face the entirety of Christian's sexual past.

"Yes." She says. "The girls left right after Rachel did but Mr. Grey wanted all of these things gone before you got back here."

"I see." I say. "Can I help you?"

"No, Mrs. Grey." She shakes her head. "This is the last of it. I'll just see myself out."

"Good-bye, Leila."

"Good-bye, Mrs. Grey." She says. She walks to the foyer but pauses and turns back to me. "I was sorry to hear about what happened to you. I know that must have been a nightmare for you and for Mr. Grey. I'm glad that he found you. Its nice to see him happy."

"Thank-you, Leila." I mutter, not knowing what else to say. She nods and turns to leave. Are we happy? We were. So happy. Obliviously happy. Will we ever be there again?

I'm an emotional wreck the next morning but after our session with Flynn, I feel a little better. Christian and I have the same goals. We both want to be together in a fulfilling, passionate, nurturing relationship. We both want to be loving parents to Teddy. We just need to find a way to let go of the hurt and accept that at the end of the day, we both love each other deeply and neither one of us wants to hurt the other.  
>I'm not innocent in this. I've been blaming it all on Christian. <em>He <em>almost betrayed me, _he _contacted Elena, _he _went to Escala… but, just as he's touched on those insecurities deep inside me, that I'm not enough because I can't be a submissive to him, I've hit him back the same way. I have betrayed his trust as well. I think back to what he said in the session with Flynn.

_Everytime it gets hard, you run. _

And its true. When that package came, I didn't even give him a chance to talk to me. I just stormed away and shut him out. When I found Elena's phone, I couldn't get away from him fast enough and every time he tried to talk to me, I refused to listen. If I want him to earn my trust, than I need to earn his in return. No more running Anastasia.

"Are you going back to Escala?" He asks when we're in the parking lot outside Flynn's office.

"No." I say. "I think its time for me to come back home."

He smiles. "Ride with me."

"But I have my car." I argue.

"Ryan can take it." He motions to the SUV parked on the other side of the parking lot and Ryan gets out. I hand him my keys and climb into the front seat of the Saab while Christian buckles Teddy into the car seat behind me.  
>Driving down the highway to our house feels right. Christian holds my hand, rubbing his thumb over my fingers while our baby sleeps in the back seat. This is everything I want. Right here in this car.<p>

"What are you thinking about?" Christian asks as we pull up the driveway towards the house.

"How much I love you, Mr. Grey." I smile.  
>"I love you too, baby. More than the world."<p>

When we walk into the house, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. I'm home with Christian and Teddy, where I belong. Christian disappears into his office and I take Teddy out to the living room, planning on putting on a movie and relaxing on the couch with Christian for the rest of the afternoon. I'm looking over the movies when I hear Christian behind me. I turn and he's standing behind the couch looking at me, determined, but also nervous.

"What's wrong?" I ask. He comes around the couch and holds out a CD in a blank jewel case.

"What is this I ask?" shifting Teddy so I can hold him with one arm and take the disk from him.

"This is the CCTV footage from Escala, from that morning..." He begins. "There isn't a camera in the playroom but I thought maybe you'd like to see the rest."

I look down in the disk in my hand. Why didn't I think of this? Of course there is security footage. This will prove it. I'll know for certain what happened after all. I frown and hold the disk back out from Christian.

"You don't want to watch it?" He asks.

"No." I say. "I want to move on. I believe you Christian, and I'm choosing to let go of these past few weeks and move on. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and if you say nothing happened, nothing happened. I don't need security footage."

He smiles and wraps me in his arms, and tells me, softly, that he loves me.

"Never again will I give you a reason to doubt me, Ana."

We spend the rest of the afternoon watching movies and playing in the back yard with Teddy. Christian and I talk like we haven't talked in ages and we watch the sunset over the sound. We have dinner alfresco on our balcony and when its time to put Teddy down for the night, I stand in the doorway and watch Christian sing him to sleep. I don't know if I could think of a more appropriate lullaby than I've Got You Under My Skin and my heart melts as Christian moves away from the crib and gazes at me singing, _Yes I've got you, under my skin._

He leans down and kisses me and as I feel his love wash over me, I know we're going to be okay.

We walk down to the living room and I pour us two glasses of wine while Christian turns on his Ipod. I want to laugh as I walk into the living room and hear the familiar guitar chords of Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon.

As the tempo picks up, Christian turns around and begins "doing the twist". I laugh and when Caleb Followill begins to sing, Christian animatedly mouths the words along with him. Oh, playful fifty. How I've missed you. He dances around the living room while I giggle and when the chorus begins, I can't help it. I'm jumping around too, lip syncing along with Christian.

He reaches out for my hand and twists me into him, holding me close as we sway back and forth. When the song ends, he doesn't let me go.

"I love you, Anastasia." he tells me. "Let's never fight again."

"No." I say and turn around so I'm facing him. "Lets fight all the time. Because after the fight, comes the hot make up sex."

"Anastasia." he says, feigning shock.

"We have a lot of fighting to make up for." I say. "I hope you're up to the challenge."

"We aim to please, Mrs. Grey."

He scoops me up into his arms, kisses me deeply and carries me off to our bed room.


	25. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Christmas 2013**

**APOV**

"Christian!" I gasp, my hands clasping around his bare back as he makes love to me on the floor of the family room in front of a crackling fire. The christmas tree twinkles in the corner.

Slowly, achingly slowly, he pulls out of me and then pushes back in, pushing, pushing, pushing, Ah!

He leans down kisses me, his tongue rolling through my mouth and I groan. My whole body is alight with need and sensation.

"You're body is so beautiful, Anastasia." He says when his lips separate from mine, He moves my hair to the side and kisses, sucks and nibbles on my neck just below my ear. He's moving inside of me at a maddeningly slow pace. Its torture but also exquisite to feel every inch of him as he plunges, purposefully, in and out.

"What did I do to deserve all of this?" he asks and his hand runs over my naked breast. "I'm a lucky man, Mrs. Grey."

"Christian." I moan again, desperate for release.

"Are you ready, baby?" He asks, and I can feel rather than see his smile against my skin.

"Yes, Christian, please!" I beg and he swirls his hips around, circling inside of me. His rhythm quickens and I feel the muscles deep inside begin to tighten.

"Oh god, I'm so close." I moan and he groans.

"I love having you like this, baby. Slow and deep. You feel so good, Anastasia." His arm reaches up under my leg and pulls it further up, towards my chest and I feel him thrust deeper inside of me. I'm building and building.. fuck!

"Christian!" I yell and I come, gloriously, feeling him move in and out of me as my nerve endings explode.  
>"Yes, Anastasia." He whispers gruffly. "Fuck, give it to me baby." My orgasm goes on and on, intensifying as I hear Christian's moan of pleasure when he finds his own release inside of me.<p>

We lay together, basking in the glory of our post-coital bliss, and Christian runs his fingers over my skin.

"Can we wake him now?" He asks and I turn disapproving eyes on him.  
>"It's too early, Christian. Let him sleep. The presents aren't going anywhere."<p>

He pouts and I lean over and kiss him. "You're going to be impossible in a couple of years when he's just as excited about the presents as you are." I say and he smiles at me. I kiss him softly once more and stand up to put my robe on. It is still too early to wake Teddy but I can get breakfast started so its ready when we do finally wake him. I pick up the baby monitor sitting on the table next to the couch and walk into the kitchen. I'm making homemade cinnamon rolls and Christian inhales deeply and moans approvingly when he smells them cooking in the oven.

I'm just pulling the buns out to ice when we hear the unmistakable cries for "Dada" over the baby monitor. Christian's face breaks into a breathtaking, overly-excited smile and I laugh as he turns around and practically sprints up the stairs to retrieve Teddy from his crib.

When he comes back downstairs with our toddler in his arms, I'm setting breakfast out on the table. Christian grins as he sits down to his cinnamon roll and mug of hot chocolate with a candy cane sticking out over the side of the mug. I cut Teddy's bun up into tiny pieces and he smiles broadly as he reaches down and pops them into his mouth.

"Mmm." Christian says, looking over at Teddy.  
>"Yummy!" Teddy cries excitedly and I giggle. When we've finished, Christian wipes down the baby's sticky face and fingers while I pile the breakfast dishes in the sink.<p>

"Presents?" Christian asks and I nod. He reaches down, takes Teddy's hand and leads him into the family room where the Christmas tree is surrounded by an outrageously large mountain of presents, nearly all of which are for Teddy.

I don't know if I'll ever stop loving watching how patient Christian is with Teddy. He sorts through all the presents, handing Teddy his gifts and watching patiently as he struggles to rip away the wrapping paper. Teddy opens a dozens of presents, clothes, toys and even a model train that is really more for Christian to play with than Teddy. I reach under the tree and grab the small package I've wrapped for Christian.

"Teddy." I say, "Give this one to daddy." Teddy stumbles over to me and wraps his little fingers around the small rectangular box. He runs to Christian and holds it out for him.

"I thought I got my present this morning." Christian says lasciviously and I roll my eyes. I reach out, grab Teddy and pull him into my lap as Christian tears the wrapping paper of the package. He opens the small box and pulls out a small white stick with a blue cap. His eyes widen as he looks down at the little digital screen that reads _Pregnant. _

"Really?" He asks, his voice trembling with his held back excitement.

I nod and he launches himself at me, pulling both me and Teddy into a tight hug.

"Oh god, Ana!" He says and when he pulls away, there are tears in his eyes. "This makes me the happiest man in the world." He reaches down and places his hand over my stomach.  
>"How far along?"<p>

"Only about five or six weeks." I answer and then his lips are on mine. I feel Teddy yank on my robe and we both look down at him. Christian picks up up, lifting him into the air and spins him around. Teddy laughs and screams with joy as Christian pulls him down into a tight hug.

"Do you want to be a big brother?" he asks.

"No, I want presents." We both laugh and Christian reaches out and digs with him through the gifts under the tree as I watch. Staring at the two boys who make my life complete.

A/N:

Thank you all so so much for you reviews! I love reading them every morning and I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to leave one for me. I'm working on my next story now and should begin posting within the next week or so, so if you liked this story I hope you'll read my next one too! After all the craziness and heartbreak of this story, I'm trying to write something a littie funnier but still full of naughty goodness.

-Laters!

**Update: ** I've gotten a lot of questions about when my next story is going to be posted, so I wanted to let all of you know that I am working on it. The original story I planned, ended up not going anywhere and becoming very obnoxious so I canned it. I'm working on something now that's a little more complicated and I want to have a few chapters finished and the entire story outlined before I post it so I don't get stuck half way through. It is coming, I promise. Hope you're all as excited for 50 this weekend as I am!


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